AST SpaceMobile, a company developing a space-based cellular broadband network accessible by standard mobile phones, has announced the successful completion of the first-ever two-way voice calls using the BlueWalker 3 satellite to unmodified smartphones.

This marks the first time anyone has achieved a direct voice connection from space to everyday cellular devices, an important milestone towards AST SpaceMobile’s goal of providing connectivity to the nearly 50% of the global population who remain unconnected from cellular broadband. The calls were made from the Midland, Texas area to Rakuten in Japan over AT&T spectrum using a Samsung Galaxy S22 smartphone.

The test calls, which involved engineers from Vodafone, Rakuten, and AT&T, have validated AST SpaceMobile’s patented system and architecture. AST SpaceMobile has agreements and understandings with mobile network operators globally that have approximately 2 billion existing subscribers, including Vodafone Group, Rakuten Mobile, AT&T, Bell Canada, Orange, Telefonica, TIM, Saudi Telecom Company, Zain KSA, Etisalat, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, Smart Communications, Globe Telecom, Millicom, Smartfren, Telecom Argentina, Telstra, Africell, Liberty Latin America, and others.