Here's your Forbes Daily Briefing for Thursday, May 22nd. Today on Forbes, this billionaire immigrant

is racing Elon Musk to connect your phone from space. Last September, a crowd of seasoned

spectators gathered at Cape Canaveral, Florida to watch as SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket took flight for the

373rd time.

But it wasn't carrying yet another of Elon Musk's Starlink satellites to join the 7100-plus

he has already circling Earth.

On board instead were five satellites from AST Space Mobile, a tiny Starlink rival that SpaceX has

derided as a quote, meme stock in regulatory filings with the federal government. Each satellite was

equipped with a 700-square-foot antenna that would unfold in orbit. An early step in establishing

a network, AST hopes will someday best the incumbent mocking

it.

The size of these antennas and the even larger 2400 square foot version that will succeed

them are key to CEO and founder, Abell of Vellon's plan, to win a new market.

Satellite Internet beamed directly to your phone. In contrast to

SpaceX, which uses thousands of satellites to connect residences, businesses, vehicles, and even

the White House to the internet, AST's super large antennas should give it global coverage

with just 90 satellites. The company plans to launch 60 into orbit by

the end of 2026. The goal is to keep cell phones connected when out of range of a tower. You'd be able to

make calls even when hiking in a remote area or from a boat miles offshore. Until recently,

that required expensive satellite phones with special hardware.

This isn't Starlink's main business. It's $12.3 billion in revenue largely comes from

providing internet to fixed-based stations attached to homes and businesses, not mobile phones.

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