SRIHARIKOTA, Dec. 21 -- ISRO's upcoming LVM3 M6 mission will carry the BlueBird Block-2 satellite into orbit on December 24, as part of a commercial deal with US-based AST SpaceMobile. The historic mission will deploy the next-generation communication satellite designed to provide high-speed cellular broadband directly to smartphones worldwide.

AST SpaceMobile (AST & Science, LLC) is building the first and only space-based cellular broadband network, which is accessible directly by smartphones and designed for both commercial and government applications.

"We are on a mission to eliminate the connectivity gaps faced by today's nearly six billion mobile subscribers and bring broadband to the billions who remain unconnected," the company sai...