AST & Science

In late 2018, the MDC partnered with AST & Science to bring their corporate headquarters and satellite manufacturing facility to the MDC’s 85,000-square-foot facility at the Midland Spaceport Business Park. 

AST & Science is building the first and only cellular broadband network to be broadcast from space and accessible by standard smartphones. Called SpaceMobile, this innovative network will eliminate the connectivity gaps faced by today’s five billion mobile subscribers and finally bring broadband to the billions who remain unconnected.

Patented low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, integral to SpaceMobile, are being designed and manufactured at the Midland facility, as part of the company’s transformational technology. 

Chairman and CEO Abel Avellan said of their Midland location, “From Midland, we will scale up quickly to produce high volumes of low-cost, ultra-powerful LEO satellite platforms.” 

In early 2020, AST & Science announced Rakuten and Vodafone as strategic investors, bringing total capital raised to $128M. 

In the Fall of 2022, AST SpaceMobile successfully launches the BlueWalker 3, a satellite that was manufactured in Midland, Texas. In 2024, AST announced a series of additional partnerships with AT&T and Verizon that will continue to bring connectivity to more cell phone users.