AST & Science raises $110M Series B led by Rakuten and Vodafone to build a broadband network via a constellation of satellites that link directly to smartphones
Caleb Henry / SpaceNews.com :
Context & Ripple Effects
This $110M Series B lands one month after Astranis raised its own $90M Series B for broadband satellites, but AST & Science is betting on a different architecture: constellations that connect straight to unmodified smartphones rather than requiring dedicated terminals. It also extends the low-orbit broadband funding line that began with OneWeb's $500M raise from Virgin, Qualcomm, Airbus and Bharti in 2015.
The investor list is the story's real signal: Rakuten and Vodafone are not passive capital but prospective distribution partners, and the related coverage shows that thesis paying out — Vodafone later demonstrated the world's first satellite video call on a standard phone via SpaceMobile and is now planning a Europe-led constellation operated out of Germany with AST.
First-order effects
- AST & Science gains the capital to move from concept to constellation build-out, while Rakuten and Vodafone secure early positions in direct-to-smartphone satellite connectivity ahead of rivals.
Second-order effects
- US carriers were eventually forced to respond on AST's terms rather than build their own: AT&T signed a space-based broadband agreement running through 2030 (the AT&T deal), and Verizon followed with $65M in prepayments plus $35M in debt (the Verizon partnership) — both routing through AST instead of competing.
Third-order effects
- If carrier-funded satellite partners keep winning exclusivity-style deals, mobile network operators structurally shift from owning all their coverage to licensing space-based capacity from specialist constellations, concentrating the direct-to-device market around a few funded platforms.
The trend: Telecom operators are increasingly bankrolling satellite-to-smartphone startups so that space-based coverage becomes a bolt-on layer of their existing networks rather than a separate product.