Bell Canada completed construction of its first sovereign direct-to-device (D2D) satellite ground station, a milestone in a strategy to offer connectivity beyond the reach of its traditional wireless network.

The facility in the province of Quebec connects with AST SpaceMobile satellites, with testing underway as the operator works to build the infrastructure required to provide D2D services.

Bell stated the companies completed integration testing covering “text messaging, broadband data connectivity”, and voice and video calls.

Video streaming, IoT and public alert tests are scheduled for the coming weeks.

The milestone builds on demonstrations Bell and AST SpaceMobile ran in 2025.

In addition to connecting customers in rural or remote locations, Bell stated the service is expected to support use cases including emergency response, environmental monitoring, resource development, energy production and transportation.

The company is continuing to build ground station infrastructure elsewhere in Canada, with additional sites under construction in the provinces of Ontario, Alberta, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Bell explained the facilities would provide nationwide D2D coverage while ensuring customer traffic runs through domestic infrastructure and data remains sovereign.

EVP and CTO Mark McDonald said the ground infrastructure “is designed to support a full suite of D2D capabilities including messaging, data connectivity, voice calling and video streaming”.

AST SpaceMobile CCO Chris Ivory pointed to Canada’s geography as a driver for the project, explaining the work with Bell would provide seamless connectivity “beyond the reach of traditional terrestrial networks”.

The post Bell edges closer to D2D service launch appeared first on Mobile World Live.

AST SpaceMobile decoupled from recent launch disappointments by scheduling the orbital deployment of its next three satellites on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

The space-based mobile network company hopes to blast its BlueBird 8, 9 and 10 satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) on 17 June. As ever, launches are dependent on various environmental and other factors, so precise timing is fluid.

AST SpaceMobile expects the latest satellites to deliver almost twice the data rates of its initial BlueBird models, which it noted recently hit 98.9Mb/s in the downlink.

Company president Scott Wisniewski said the significance of the satellites goes beyond expanding its constellation and coverage: they represent the culmination of an in-house manufacturing drive and bolster claims to having birds with the largest phase-arrayed antennas at LEO heights.

AST SpaceMobile stated the trio of satellites are already stacked using a proprietary architecture and ready to be integrated with the SpaceX rocket.

The scheduled launch is something of a firing back by AST SpaceMobile at commentators who questioned whether a recent failure of a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket during a test would impact a plan to conduct regular launches throughout 2026.

The post AST SpaceMobile turns to SpaceX for next launches appeared first on Mobile World Live.

AST SpaceMobile expects Blue Origin’s recent launchpad explosion will delay its direct-to-smartphone constellation by three to six months, investment bank William Blair said in an equity research note, pushing initial commercial services into the first half of 2027.

The post AST SpaceMobile sees New Glenn setback delaying initial commercial service into 2027 appeared first on SpaceNews.