Government Backing and Carrier Testing Advance D2D Service
Oct 23, 2026
AST SpaceMobile had a busy October, with news from two countries that point in the same direction. In Japan, the governments of the United States and Japan publicly welcomed the company’s work with Rakuten on satellite infrastructure. In Canada, the carrier TELUS finished a first end-to-end test of the same technology on its own network. Both stories involve ordinary smartphones that connect straight to satellites in low Earth orbit, with no special hardware. Taken together, they show how quickly space-based cellular service is moving from lab demonstrations to government agendas and carrier roadmaps. That shift is likely to shape how carriers, regulators, and investors think about satellite coverage in the coming years.
Credit: AST SpaceMobile
The Japanese announcement was a result of discussions between White House science policy director Michael Kratsios and Japan’s minister for science and technology policy, Toshiharu Furukawa, in Kyoto. The U.S. State Department then issued a joint statement on the Technology Prosperity Deal between the two nations, and the statement mentions the AST SpaceMobile and Rakuten project. Both governments welcomed the cooperation between the two companies on the development and deployment of satellite infrastructure. The document also includes broader joint efforts on digital connectivity in the Indo-Pacific region. Washington has an opportunity to use its space technology in an allied market, and Tokyo could gain a communications layer that does not depend solely on towers.
The attention matters because AST SpaceMobile began direct-to-cell operations in Japan in August, while Rakuten Mobile has targeted the fourth quarter of 2026 for its customer-facing service. The planned service uses large phased-array satellites that talk to standard 4G and 5G phones, and it routes voice, text, and data into the core network of Rakuten Mobile. Rakuten holds roughly 5.3 percent of AST SpaceMobile, which comes to about 15.5 million shares. Japan’s communications ministry has also preliminarily selected a Rakuten-led venture for a potential subsidy of close to $1 billion, though the award is not final, and the Kyoto statement adds political weight as the constellation grows. Rival carrier KDDI chose Starlink for its own direct-to-cell coverage, so the market is splitting into camps, and Rakuten’s camp now has a public nod from two governments, at least on paper.
In Canada, TELUS and AST SpaceMobile have successfully completed their first integration test between TELUS’ wireless network and AST SpaceMobile’s space-based network. The aim is to help close the coverage gaps found on remote highways, in national parks, and throughout northern communities where it is difficult to justify the construction of towers. Canada’s size and rural geography make it a natural testbed. Connecting smartphones directly to satellites opens new possibilities for how Canadians stay connected, said Nazim Benhadid, the chief technology officer of TELUS. The test demonstrates the ability of mobile operators to augment their current networks with space-based broadband while customers continue to use their current phones, Chris Ivory, chief commercial officer of AST SpaceMobile, said. TELUS says it expects to begin offering the technology within the next year, but has not said when.
