ISRO to launch US satellite that enables voice calls via smartphones from space

The Indian Research Space Organisation (ISRO) is reportedly planning to launch an American communications satellite this year that will allow phone calls using direct connectivity from space.

This satellite will enable users to make calls directly from space using their smartphones.

“In February or March we will be launching a US satellite for mobile communication, this satellite will enable voice communication on mobile phones. It will be an interesting mission," an NDTV report quoted as saying Dr Jitendra Singh, the minister of science and technology.

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This will also mark the first time that an American company's large-scale communications satellite will be launched from an Indian rocket.

ISRO officials, cited in the report, stated that the launch is a purely commercial endeavour, led by New Space India Limited (NSIL).

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While there has been no official confirmation on which satellite operator ISRO is collaborating with for the launch, sources cited in the report said that Texas-based company AST SpaceMobile had planned to launch its satellite with the Indian space agency.

AST SpaceMobile's CEO Abel Avellan said they “invented a technology that connects satellites directly to ordinary cell phones and provides broadband internet through the largest ever commercial phase array in low Earth orbit”, the report mentioned.

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In an investor call last year he had stated that AST would use a Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) to launch a single Block 2 of the Bluebird satellite.

The Bluebird satellite will reportedly have an antenna which is 64 square meters and will weigh around 6000 kilograms and India's rocket will put it in a low Earth orbit.

The company's mission seeks to bring "affordable 5G broadband service from space to billions of people worldwide, direct to everyday smartphones".

An ISRO official reportedly confirmed that the satellite would enable "direct to mobile communication" and that AST SpaceMobile had hired the services of India's Bahuballi rocket or the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 for launching it.