AST SpaceMobile ASIC Chip Enters Tape-Out Phase in Collaboration with TSMC

AST SpaceMobile, Inc., the company building the first and only space-based cellular broadband network accessible directly by everyday smartphones designed for both commercial and government use, proudly announces the commencement of the tape-out phase for its Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), in collaboration with TSMC, the world's leading foundry.

As the cornerstone of AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird Block 2 program, the AST5000 ASIC is a novel, custom and low-power architecture developed to enable up to a tenfold improvement in processing bandwidth on each satellite, unlocking opportunities for seamless space-based cellular broadband services worldwide. This significant milestone marks the culmination of over four years of dedicated research, development, and engineering expertise, equivalent to an estimated 150 man-years of intensive work, as well as approximately $45 million of development. $Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM.US)$