Starlink competitor AST SpaceMobile plans orbital launch for next week

AST SpaceMobile is taking another step toward its goal of providing a space-based mobile communications network -- one that would turn any standard smartphone into a satellite phone, no additional hardware required. The company announced that its network of five commercial satellites is scheduled to launch into low-Earth orbit on September 12 from Florida's Cape Canaveral. The company's five BlueBird satellites are equipped with communications arrays that aim to provide standard off-the-shelf sm...