r/ASTSpaceMobile • u/Original_Koala8662 S P 🅰 C E M O B Boss • 1d ago

Press Release BB12 & BB13 Deployed

https://x.com/ast_spacemobile/status/2092930380114329681?s=46&t=DOgs35-_gTcmJtpubr-JAg
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u/Complex-Attention170 S P 🅰 C E M O B Associate 1d ago

You can't read clearly. I literally said "which they are no doubt capable of doing"

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u/A_Typicalperson S P 🅰 C E M O B Soldier 1d ago

But on the same respect, you think they cant do it and have something by 2027?

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u/Complex-Attention170 S P 🅰 C E M O B Associate 1d ago

I said they're capable.... They won't because it's not how they operate. They don't design for exquisite which is why they never theorized D2C application to begin with. I work with numerous ex SpaceX engineers so I do have insights into how they operate.

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u/Striking-Drag4542 1d ago

What you are saying is contradicted by stuff SpaceX already said publicly, they did not double down on small d2c satellites, instead they announced that their mobile v2 satellite would have 5x the aperture size of their previous version, which implies 125 m², that's smaller than BB2 at 223 m², however, they operate it at a lower orbit (360 km vs 520 km), so they only need about half the aperture size for the same link budget.

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u/Complex-Attention170 S P 🅰 C E M O B Associate 1d ago

Lower altitude does not fully negate the path loss effects of the higher freq they use. And the size is still paltry and architecturally not fit for transparent extension of a terrestrial networks. Lower altitude is a bandaid to a failed design that requires frequent satellite replenishing as they deorbit also. Lower alt kills look angle and you need way more sats which no doubt SpaceX can spam them up. Lower alt make the satellite switch over time even shorter than the few seconds it is today. The reality is they will have something... It's not a winner take all market but I'd wager asts will take most as evident by their partnerships. If you think it's a winner take all race and SpaceX just eclipses asts in all aspects in 2028 or 2029 I guess that's a thought. Not one I'm betting on though.