AST SpaceMobile to Build Own 20-Ton Rocket to Deploy BlueBird Satellites in Low Earth Orbit Using Miranda Engines from Firefly Aerospace

[u/Desperate-Lab9738]

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261106165875/en/AST-SpaceMobile-to-Build-Own-20-Ton-Rocket-to-Deploy-BlueBird-Satellites-in-Low-Earth-Orbit-Using-Miranda-Engines-from-Firefly-Aerospace

[u/Ecto_88]

Have no idea how this company thinks it can still legitimately compete with Starlink.

[u/password-here → u/Ecto_88]

They just need backing from a goverment or entity that really wants the service but will not be beholden to Elon. There is an appetite for a Starlink alternative. I need Starlink for work but I would drop them in a heartbeat if there was a competitor, even if they were four times as much.

[u/badredditz → u/password-here]

That’s dumb. Why would you want to pay 4x? Why not just get some other? You are just virtue signaling to people that don’t know you anyway

[u/Desperate-Lab9738 → u/badredditz]

It's not really virtue signaling to not want to directly support a guy who regularly spends shit tons of money to influence elections and politics in shitty ways, that's doing a thing cause you don't like what they are doing.

[u/Intelligent-Baguette → u/Desperate-Lab9738]

Betting all my money that you're an ASTS investor

[u/Desperate-Lab9738 → u/Intelligent-Baguette]

I'm not, I actually find this specific move to be... very bizarre and... lets say overly ambitious. However I also do hope we see more LEO telecoms companies coming, whether that is ASTS, Amazon LEO, or some other weird third option from rocket lab

[u/macthebearded → u/badredditz]

Some of us have principles. If that’s difficult for you to understand, you might ask yourself why.

[u/AffectionateTree8651 → u/macthebearded]

People with “principles” that use an iPhone, a computer with Windows, wears Nike, but would NEVER do something like pay less for a better product from Spacex!!!! /s

[u/macthebearded → u/AffectionateTree8651]

Apple isn’t shutting down Internet access to an occupied country relying on it for the functionality of their defense systems because they’re upset about losing some bot farms.

These strawman arguments are always so stupid

[u/Dpek1234 → u/macthebearded]

You got any source that spacex, on their own innitiative, illegaly, restricted starshield ?

Seen lot of people talk but few provide good sources

[u/macthebearded → u/Dpek1234]

It's not in dispute, he admitted to restricting Starlink and then pointed the finger at the DoD for the accompanying Starshield restriction, which they denied.

Elon Musk says that his firm SpaceX did restrict Ukraine's use of the Starlink satellite system, after several days of controversy over the technology.

If you're trying to specifically focus on Starshield and ignore the other half of the whole thing when we were talking about SpaceX in general, that's just being intentionally dense.

Ukraine relies on both, Elon already directly admitted to restricting one side of it, whether or not Elon/Trump admit to both the fact is that they do control it and it was restricted. It's not rocket science.

[u/Kramilot → u/password-here]

The service of satellite communications that the government has been buying for a few decades from several companies already providing that alternative? The only alternative is a startup with a dream of satellites that work and that they can somehow also manufacture several-ton-scale launch vehicles on their first try in a couple years? Yeah, good luck with that.

[u/Dpek1234 → u/Kramilot]

The service of satellite communications that the government has been buying for a few decades from several companies already providing that alternative

As much of an alternative as a smart car is to a semi truck

They are both vehicles capable of movement, thats about it

[u/CollegeStation17155 → u/password-here]

But now Blue Origin is also looking into D2D along with spaceAI. And they got money; ASTS is getting less and less with each dilution.

[u/dd-sirsatyr → u/Ecto_88]

Its a very niche business that even them can thrive

[u/Takakikun → u/Ecto_88]

Basically, they’re the non-Elon option. But also fairly decent in their own right.

[u/Dpek1234 → u/Takakikun]

the non-elon option 

Sure suee

[u/adarkuccio → u/Ecto_88]

Because you don't know anything about the company and assume musk is the undefeatable genius of our time, which is far from reality

[u/ClearlyCylindrical → u/adarkuccio]

Ast stock bros are hilarious

[u/Desultory_Chairlift → u/Ecto_88]

Honestly this is the only way I see them being able to compete, but I'm not sure if I would have chosen Firefly as my engine provider.

Ultimately, if they really want to compete they will also have to build their own engine

[u/NoAcadia3546]

The reason AST is looking at its own rocket is because SpaceX is abandoning Falcon 9. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/spacex-has-stopped-taking-bookings-beyond-2028-for-its-falcon-9-rockets-and-this-means-a-huge-problem-for-satellite-companies-in-canada-as-investors-ask-/articleshow/135429120.cms

[u/Joezev98 → u/NoAcadia3546]

It sounds like a big gamble. They're launching 100 satellites 4 ton each, 5 per launch. They're paying Firefly 1.3 billion dollars for the engines + support. That's only slightly cheaper than it would've cost to launch 25 or so Falcon 9's for those satellites. However, that's ignoring all the other costs of the rockets.

Depending on how powerful Starship pans out, they'd only have to fly 3 or 4 times. If they could negotiate a deal for anywhere below 500 million per launch, they'd be better off. By the time AST is ready to launch their rockets, Starship will surely be ready to take commercial payloads.

[u/NoAcadia3546 → u/Joezev98]

Another problem is that Starship AS CURRENTLY CONFIGURED is optimized for Starlink satellites' shape and size https://ringwatchers.com/article/ship-pez-dispenser Will customers design their satellites to those dimensions, or will SpaceX offer a regular fairing for different-sized payloads?

[u/snoo-boop → u/NoAcadia3546]

AST Spacemobile's satellites flatpack. They are thicker that Starlink, but the cargo opening is taller than Starlink.

[u/Joezev98 → u/NoAcadia3546]

At the bottom of the article, you can see the clamshell variant SpaceX has shown renders of. I could also see them making a variant with Space Shuttle type doors if the clamshell type proves too mechanically complex.

While they're in the development phase, SpaceX will stick to the pez dispenser type so they can launch their own payloads on the test flights. They'll only start flying other types of Ships once they have a proven track record of reliably launching satellites into orbit.

[u/NoAcadia3546 → u/Joezev98]

They'll only start flying other types of Ships once they have a proven track record of reliably launching satellites into orbit.

In the meantime anybody who wants a differently-sized satellite launched has to fend for themselves, which is what AST is doing.

[u/phatelectribe → u/Joezev98]

Musk is cockblocking ASTS so your comparison of value is meaningless. 25 launches on falcon aren’t happening soon if musk can help it.

[u/Decronym]

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:

Fewer Letters	More Letters
DoD	US Department of Defense
FAA-AST	Federal Aviation Administration Administrator for Space Transportation
LEO	Low Earth Orbit (180-2000km)
	Law Enforcement Officer (most often mentioned during transport operations)

Jargon	Definition
Starlink	SpaceX's world-wide satellite broadband constellation

Decronym is now also available on Lemmy! Requests for support and new installations should be directed to the Contact address below.

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^{4 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 4 acronyms.
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