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February 11, 2026<\/p>\n
2 min read<\/p>\n
Add Us On Google<\/span>Add SciAm<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The largest-ever satellite of its kind just unfurled its wings in low-Earth orbit<\/p>\n BlueBird 6 features the biggest commercial communications array antenna ever deployed in orbit around Earth, spanning some 2,400 square feet<\/p>\n By Claire Cameron edited by Jeanna Bryner<\/span><\/p>\n Courtesy of AST SpaceMobile<\/p>\n The largest-ever communications satellite of its kind took a major step toward operation Tuesday: operator AST SpaceMobile announced the record-breaking spacecraft, whimsically called BlueBird 6, has successfully unfolded its humongous antenna.<\/p>\n Spanning some 2,400 square feet (223 square meters), it is the largest commercial communications array antenna ever deployed in low-Earth orbit. AST SpaceMobile hopes it will be the first of many: the Texas-based public company has six smaller satellites already operating in low-Earth orbit, with plans for scores more behemoths like BlueBird 6. Ultimately these will form a cellular broadband network aimed specifically at smartphones.<\/p>\n BlueBird 6 is huge. Whereas Starlink satellites are about the size of a large table and have an array that extends about 100 feet, BlueBird 6\u2019s array spans an area a little shy of a doubles tennis court. It is also very bright, says Peter Plavchan, an associate professor of physics and astronomy at George Mason University, who is not involved with the satellite company.<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n \u201cThese satellites are going to be so bright that they will be easily visible to the eye,\u201d he says, more luminous than Saturn. Having such bright, numerous manmade objects in the sky means that ground-based astronomy\u2014whether professional or amateur\u2014will ultimately be affected, he says.<\/p>\n \u201cThe view of our sky is changing,\u201d Plavchan says. \u201cEven in dark-sky locations now, things are going to look different.\u201d<\/p>\n Samantha Lawler, an associate professor of astronomy at the University of Regina, agrees, stressing that objects so bright will muddy astronomy\u2014and more. <\/p>\n \u201cHaving many of these satellites in the sky will be detrimental to astronomy research, devastating for naked-eye observers and could even cause serious issues for migratory birds and other animals that navigate by the stars,\u201d Lawler says.<\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article, I\u2019d like to ask for your support. Scientific American<\/span> has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been a Scientific American<\/span> subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm <\/span>always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.<\/p>\n If you subscribe to Scientific American<\/span>, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.<\/p>\n In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can’t-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world’s best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.<\/p>\n There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you\u2019ll support us in that mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" February 11, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm The largest-ever satellite of its kind just unfurled its wings in low-Earth orbit BlueBird 6 features the biggest commercial communications array antenna ever deployed in orbit around Earth, spanning some 2,400 square feet By Claire Cameron edited by Jeanna Bryner Courtesy of AST SpaceMobile<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[1210,23028,23030,10262,1505,23029,19797],"class_list":{"0":"post-44321","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-kind","9":"tag-largestever","10":"tag-lowearth","11":"tag-orbit","12":"tag-satellite","13":"tag-unfurled","14":"tag-wings"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/44322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}On supporting science journalism<\/h2>\n
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