Overview
- The Europe-focused constellation will be managed by SatCo, a Luxembourg-based Vodafone–AST joint venture designed to deliver pan-European connectivity and support public protection and disaster relief.
- The centre, to be sited near Munich or Hannover pending final talks, will allocate and map coverage for European mobile operators and host a gateway linking satellites with national 4G/5G networks.
- A dedicated 'command switch' will provide European control over security, enabling updates to telemetry, tracking and control encryption, modification of service encryption keys, and management of satellite beams over Europe.
- AST SpaceMobile has filed the constellation through Germany with the ITU and is pursuing access to EU 2 GHz MSS and 700 MHz PPDR bands, with use dependent on national spectrum decisions.
- Commercial service is targeted from 2026, with mobile operators in 21 EU countries expressing interest, while execution depends on scaling the BlueBird fleet in a market where Starlink is striking direct-to-cell deals such as with Veon.