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- AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) announces the commencement of the tape-out phase for its Application-Specific Integrated Circuit, in collaboration with TSMC (NYSE:TSM).
- “As we advance towards the orbital launch of our Block 1 BlueBird satellites in the upcoming months, we are simultaneously making steady progress on the technology underlying our Block 2 satellites, demonstrating the company's commitment to innovation and global connectivity, with the ASIC at its core," said Abel Avellan, Chairman and CEO of AST SpaceMobile.
- The AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird Block 2 program features a custom, low-power AST5000 ASIC, enhancing satellite processing bandwidth by up to tenfold.
- The milestone marks the culmination of over four years of dedicated research, development, and engineering expertise, equivalent to an estimated 150 man-years of intensive work as well as approximately $45 million of development.
- The AST SpaceMobile has achieved 3 bits per hertz using BlueWalker 3 and plans to use 40 MHz per beam on commercial satellites for 120 Mbps peak data rates. Further, with planned ASICs and a 2,400 sq ft BlueBird satellite size, it expects to support up to 10,000 MHz of processing bandwidth per satellite.