Then, seemingly out of nowhere, AST Mobile launched a GIGANTIC direct-to-cell satellite that is as bright as the brightest stars in the sky (this is paywalled, sorry, the next link is not): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06672-7
This is an opinion piece I wrote about this article a few months ago (which required much back-and-forth with multiple Nature editors, plus their lawyers...sigh): https://rdcu.be/drQOU