ISRO plans to launch BlueBird-6, the heaviest US commercial satellite to date, on December 21, 2025, after delaying the mission from December 15. The satellite was created in collaboration with US-based AST SpaceMobile and is intended to provide direct-to-device internet services to areas without a stable communication infrastructure. BlueBird-6, weighing approximately 6.5 tonnes, is ISRO’s most significant commercial payload to date, and it will be launched aboard the LVM3 heavy-lift rocket from Sriharikota spaceport.
The revised timeline is based on extended pre-launch processes, including integration and system-level checks, which ISRO believes are important for a mission of this scale and complexity. BlueBird-6 is outfitted with one of the largest phased array antennas ever deployed in orbit, measuring nearly 2,400 square feet. This innovative arrangement allows the satellite to send broadband signals directly to regular mobile devices without depending on ground-based infrastructure.
The satellite, which is positioned in low Earth orbit, is expected to provide a low-latency connection to underserved areas in Asia, Africa, and parts of North America. The mission demonstrates India’s developing competence in carrying out complicated global commercial launches and promotes strategic cooperation between India and the United States in advanced space technologies.
