John Dean

How it feels when everything goes wrong: (The hardships of hardware development) [𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 5] I have to rewind from the spring of 2023 to the fall 2022. We hired an agent to help us fundraise in the fall of 2022. The agreement was the first part of the money on our account in February. When they failed to do that, our own investors pulled the bridge financing. Now we had 3 months before we ran out of money. It was fair enough. We had struggled with motor problems for 6 months. The progress on the flying prototype seemed very little. In the end, we found out there were manufacturing errors on them. The countdown timer is 3 months now. Fugg!! Well, Travis James Mathers and I were not ready to give up. We geared up, prepared ourselves for war. I had to fire the whole team due to Danish rules around responsibility. Here is the status at this point: - A fired team with 3 months of resignation, - A prototype with motors that had been causing problems - There is no regulatory approval to fly outside. Okay, here we go! We put in all our efforts to get regulatory approval so we could fly outside and do a demonstration for a potential customer, which would probably get us our bridge financing back. 1.5 months later, we got our regulatory approval as the only ones in Europe able to do onshore and offshore operations with this heavy drone for cargo delivery for wind turbines. 2 months later, we fly outside for the second time, and at about 25 meters of height, we have a small glitch on a motor that causes instability that makes the drone crash into the ground. At this point, all the escape hatches are open for us to jump into and give up. Double FUGG!! Follow me for the next part of the story. If you love what you do, fight for it with everything you have. -MK

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Interesting Autonomous car behavior. You'd think that GNSS would at least inform the car of what lane they are in and direction of traffic, while the camera/lidar would determine that all the other cars are pointed the other direction...

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🧙‍♂️ ❗ On my quest to deploy our limited resources well, I recently (06-21-24) wrote Xometry, Fictiv, Prototype Hubs, and Jiga... The question was this: 𝙒𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙧/𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 <𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙮>. 𝘽𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙥, 𝙬𝙚'𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙟𝙤𝙗𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙙 (𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙮, 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙡, 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨, 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙚𝙩𝙘.). 𝙏𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧, 𝙄’𝙢 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 <𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙮> 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙧𝙨. 𝙒𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙥 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙞𝙩 <𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙮>’𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙨. To Xometry's credit, they got back to me quickly (thanks Meredith Jenkins). Meredith provided great information and made it clear that AS9100 and ITAR will be a differentiating factor. I know what the community is going to say… “You should be focusing on getting local customers in your area and building relationships.” 💯 👈 🤦‍♂️ Right, of course, we are doing that as well. But the benefit of using these platforms is that they provide some guardrails when getting started - well defined processes, software, network of customers, rules & expectations, etc. We are prepared to jump into the deep end of running a shop, but there is nothing wrong with taking a few “pool floaties” with us to make the transition a bit smoother. 🏊‍♂️ 🤷‍♂️ ⭐ 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗖𝗡𝗖 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽𝘀, 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗜 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝟭𝟱 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗿? My hunch is that reliability and communication are probably high on that list, but I’d love to have the conversation and talk specifics if you are willing! #CNC #Machining #Manufacturing #Reindustrialize #GCode #Startup #Quality #Supplier #Makingthings (09-03-24 edit) - While the bootstrapping idea was a noble pursuit, we've decided that our best chance to chase our "pie in the sky" dream is to leverage VC investment and partners. https://lnkd.in/e3bbwVJJ

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I’m excited to share that I’ve decided to document my journey as I build FinchTech AI into a successful startup. I’ll be sharing what I’ve done so far, my weekly goals, the challenges I face, and the successes I achieve along the way; the good, the bad, and the ugly. So far, I’ve built my initial website from scratch, established the FinchTech AI brand, and begun developing the MVP for my first AI tool, CalculAI. This tool is designed to assist engineers in selecting the best materials and manufacturing processes. It’s already functional, with a conversational interface that can handle basic material selection tasks, though there’s still work to do. What I’ve Accomplished: • Trained and integrated a RandomForestClassifier model for material recommendations. • Built a conversational interface for user interaction. • Improved the AI’s ability to handle different scenarios and make better recommendations. This Week’s Focus: • Enhancing the AI’s decision-making with a decision tree structure. • Improving scenario recognition to make the AI more intuitive. • Implementing a hybrid approach to better guide users through complex decision-making. • Start the build of website 2.0. Long-Term Goals: My vision is to launch CalculAI as a valuable tool for the engineering industry, secure funding to expand my team, and develop additional AI tools to address other engineering challenges. Challenges: With no technical background in software development and experience as a project manager in the engineering industry, I’ve self-taught myself web design and AI development. The journey has been filled with obstacles; many times I’ve wanted to quit, but each day I pushed a little further. Today, I’m proud to say I have a working AI tool, even if it’s just the bare minimum right now (Plan to show a demo later this week) 🚀 . I’m inviting you all to join me on this journey. If you have advice, I’m all ears, and if you have questions, I’m happy to answer. Let’s connect, share insights, and support each other as we navigate the startup world. #AI #Startup #Engineering #MachineLearning #TechInnovation #Entrepreneurship #ProductDevelopment #Resilience #Leadership #Innovation

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Breaking down our latest newsletter section by section, starting with our expanded focus in Deep Tech: --- We have built expertise in the robotics sector, and will continue to double (and triple) down on investing in this category, but we have been increasingly finding that robotics is naturally steering us into two exploding adjacent areas: Aerospace, and Advanced Manufacturing (which we define as industrials, semiconductors, materials science, and energy production). Stepping back, this expansion makes perfect sense. Robotics is an inherently horizontal platform - meaning it can be applied productively across multiple industries. This quality, paired with the fact that robotics has long shown the highest TRLs of any deep tech technology, makes it a kind of “gateway” to other sectors in the hard sciences. Now with the recent breakthroughs in AI for robotics, growing semiconductor demand, and the resurgence of aerospace and defense tech, we are seeing a dramatic uptake of robotics and relevant technologies in both advanced manufacturing and aerospace. As an added bonus of the expansion, many of the founder (and funder) networks across these landscapes have natural overlaps and linkages. For AlleyCorp Deep Tech this means that we can be extremely helpful, knowledgeable, and engaged across all three sectors right away, and continue to be the best-in-class investing team across these categories.  --- More in our newsletter: https://lnkd.in/ewiTuYq6

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As we begin 2025, I'm proud to announce that Vertical Aerospace has selected Monolith's AI platform to optimise the development of their VX4 eVTOL aircraft. Our technology will support their exceptional engineering team in advancing the future of sustainable aviation.

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Really great article on Space! Highlights Rocket Lab and their mission of small launches their Electron rocket has filled. It goes on to discuss the Neutron that is a medium lift vehicle. Rocket lab focuses on the taxi service where it takes individual payloads to specific orbits, but the new Neutron rocket is meant to compete with SpaceX and its Falcon 9. The article further discussed start ups, such as Relativity Space and ABL Space Systems. I was quoted around the maturity of businesses in this segment and discussed M&A activity. I highlighted that, "... for a company to be a consolidation target it needs some enterprise value; it needs sales and employees and contracts." I further went on to say that, "... those pure-play space companies, they are going to have a harder time because it is a slower cycle, versus a company that gets into space with a diversified book of business and will probably be more successful." #aerospace #space #mergersandacquisitions #thefactorydoctor https://lnkd.in/gsNrw2cA

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Progress Update on CalculAI: Delays, Challenges, and Pushing Forward 🚀 As much as I hoped to release the beta MVP of CalculAI this week, I’ve faced a few more hurdles—unless a miracle happens! Being self-taught and new to startups, I’m learning a lot on the fly. While using Jupyter Notebook and other tools to test and build the core functions went smoothly, building the user interface has thrown up some unexpected challenges. I’ve been dealing with missing code, incorrect page routing, visual issues, and missing functionality—all of which have caused delays. But the good news is: I’m getting closer to release! For those asking, what’s a beta MVP? 💡 The Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is a product that provides a small but valuable feature set to early users. The beta MVP may offer similar features but will have some rough edges. The dynamic chat function will already bring immense value, but other parts of the tool are still in early stages and will greatly benefit from your feedback. The vision for CalculAI is big—it’s not just about transforming material selection. I want to revolutionise the supply chain and even the design process for engineers. Taking it one day at a time, I know I’ll get ever closer to this goal. If you’re curious and want to learn more, feel free to message me or drop a comment—I’m more than happy to answer your questions. And if you’re interested in getting involved and building something that will one day redefine engineering processes, I’d love to connect! #AI #StartupJourney #MVP #TechDevelopment #Innovation #SupplyChain #MaterialSelection #DesignEngineering #EngineeringTools #CalculAI #Entrepreneurship #MachineLearning #ProductDevelopment #Startup #Investor

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[Select Committee Hearing on Drones] Edited out the relevant drone bits. I actually like the idea of taxing Chinese drones and using that as a subsidy for American made ones. Why? At least there's still competition and American manufacturers continue to experience innovation from the Chinese which will lead them to improve their own products. Otherwise America risk falling even further behind. One thing I notice is that somehow US government seems to feel public safety is part of national security but regular public officers dont think so. Which is why many of them are very vocal about the ban. Full version here: https://lnkd.in/gPs9qZjp

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High Orbit All the recent talk about safety has me reflecting on critical issues tied to our vision of "Humanity in Space, at Scale." While we at Orbital Bridge have thought extensively about the safety of our launch system, and we’re confident it can be made extremely safe, some proposed projects raise concerns. As a proud Space Zealot, I believe humanity should be, as Gerard K. O’Neill envisioned, “Interplanetary.” I share Elon Musk's vision of a permanent presence on Mars and also envision humanity expanding to the Asteroid Belt, the Moon, and the moons of Mars. We need an L5 heavy industries zone to build massive structures without fear of them falling out of the sky. Some projects on the horizon, however, might need deeper thought about orbital safety. I support every one of these ideas, but I’m concerned about the orbits they’ll occupy, the risk of degrading orbits, and the consequences of losing orbital velocity. Some of the projects I’ve been approached about include space-based power systems to beam energy back to Earth, space hotels, zero-G factories, asteroid mining expeditions, and the construction of lunar and Martian colonies. Others envision building exploration vessels or establishing cargo way stations. The concern is clear: Where will these projects go? LEO is too risky for large infrastructure due to congestion and orbital decay, and MEO is challenging because of Van Allen radiation. This leaves GEO and HEO. High Earth Orbit (HEO), which is anything above 36,000 km, offers safety from degradation risks. GEO, while initially attractive, is a precious orbital band essential for geostationary satellites. Should we reserve GEO exclusively for these critical systems? Cost matters, too. Getting to HEO costs more than twice as much as reaching LEO, and many entrepreneurs I’ve met seem to underestimate the extra cost. Using LEO cost models for HEO projects could lead to significant budget miscalculations. So, let’s talk safety: What’s the largest project that can safely operate in LEO? Was the ISS as big as it gets before risks outweigh the benefits? What orbits do you think make the most sense for these ambitious projects?

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TILT Autonomy was recently interviewed by The Wall Street Journal for an article featuring Defense Tech startups and Supply chain constraints. It was great to chat with Heather Somerville about the current challenges with manufacturing defense tech at scale and how far left you have to look at your supply chain. The road ahead is full of opportunities, and we’re looking forward to leading the charge in transforming how defense tech is built in the USA. Catch the full interview and our thoughts on what comes next for reshoring here: https://lnkd.in/eV7xg-9F #TILTAutonomy #Reshoring #SupplyChain #DefenseTech #MadeInUSA #Manufacturing

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In the earliest stages, startups have to balance two needs: capital to build now, and the focus to create the product that will bring their vision to life. We experienced this journey at Prewitt Ridge, and I had the opportunity to share parts of our story last week at AIAA ASCEND, and I wanted to share some of the highlights here, as well as the video clip captured by my teammate York Zhang! Steve Massey and I incorporated Prewitt Ridge in Dec 2019 and hit the ground running in 2020. Building on our experience as engineers working at SpaceX and Slingshot Aerospace, we set out to take a picks-and-shovels approach to build digital engineering software tooling for engineers like us, who are working at the companies out there using the picks and shovels, here on Earth and soon in space. We quickly found that there were a host of resources available to us. We received initial funding through the SBIR/STTR program, an initiative from the US government to provide early-stage technology funding for small businesses. With two STTR awards and a great university partner at UNM, we began to execute on our product vision. Simultaneously, we received phenomenal support from the Techstars Space Accelerator program. This accelerator helped us focus on the tradeoffs of bootstrapped growth through SBIR/STTR vs traditional fundraising. SBIR/STTR are fantastic sources of capital, providing a partnership that helps small businesses build through non-dilutive funding. But it’s important to remember that these opportunities are focused on specific topics and non-recurring. As a business, it's important to be disciplined on aligning the SBIR/STTR opportunities with your core product features and strategies to ensure they don't impede your teams execution. We made the decision to balance both SBIR/STTR with growth via venture capital. We successfully raised a round of funding, led by Squadra Ventures with participation from Stage Venture Partners, Aurelia Foundry, Wonder Ventures, Haystack, Acequia Capital, Techstars and GC&H We’ve had a wonderful experience working with the VC community, highlighted by the hands-on approach and national security expertise of Squadra Ventures. Going forward, we’ll continue to consider both types of funding. These resources have provided numerous connections to government and industry leaders, and in turn they have helped to focus our tool offering and capabilities. Our journey shows the importance of another balance that startups must strike: reducing risk and optimizing opportunities. Thanks to Techstars, AIAA ASCEND and all of the panelists for a great conversation! If you’re interested in discussing solutions for digital engineering, get in touch! #startups #aerospace #AIAAASCEND

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🚀 Join us on July 25th for an insightful leadership webinar! Duann Scott, David Heiny, and I will discuss the newest developments in computational design and AI, address common challenges, and explain how to leverage AI with your own data. Don't miss this chance to stay ahead in engineering! #Leadership #AI #ComputationalDesign #Webinar

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Today, David Benhaim and I are excited to announce the Launch of Backflip. Our mission is to dramatically accelerate the pace of hardware innovation and development, for one reason — we want to live in the future. The pace of development today is limited by the tools we have — tools that were designed last century — tools that can now be turbocharged with the advent of AI. Engineers all over the world pour their hearts and souls into creating the future. They can see it in their mind, but getting their ideas into the world is slow. What if we could create at the speed of imagination? What if the tools we used were AI powered, and could learn over time? What if your simulations were so close to reality that you could actually design in the virtual world, and gather most of the insights you get from real world testing? That is the future we want to live in. And that’s what we’re building at Backflip. Now imagine every person on earth had that power. This is how we touch the stars. Today we’re releasing our first foundation model — it’s an onramp to 3D design. We’ve enabled a series of inputs — from text, to drawing, to snapping a photo with your phone — that get converted into a 3D model you can 3D print today, and use in the real world. It’s so easy, a child can do it. The next release will add precision and control for experienced engineers and designers. It’s the start of the professional tool we always wanted. Powerful. Easy to use. And precise. Backflip was founded by creators who love to build in the real world. We weld, grind, CNC machine, hand-build bicycle frames, build solar cars, race cars, lay up carbon fiber, repair swiss watches, and build products like people’s lives depend on it. And yes, we love to code. This is not our first rodeo. Prior to Backflip, we invented 3D printed carbon fiber, founded Markforged, and took it public for $2.1B. We’re incredibly proud of what we built there. Markforged parts are used in mission critical applications - on the International Space Station, in fighter jets, medical applications, and robotics. In addition to inventing a new manufacturing process, we developed a powerful and easy-to-use cloud CAD platform to design aerospace grade parts in carbon fiber and various metals. That software is used by over 50,000 designers and engineers - from high school robotics teams to aerospace engineers at NASA. Now at Backflip, we’ve hand picked a talented set of AI researchers from MIT and Caltech to transform how humans design. The biggest challenges we face are in the real world. David and I have had the pleasure of working with the greatest people tech has ever seen. Passionate. Fearless. Bold. And courageous. To the old friends we've built with before, and the new ones who will forge the road ahead - we solute you. Come build with us. https://www.backflip.ai/

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Adam Keating discussing how AI is going to change manufacturing and how CoLab Software is helping them make that transition with ReviewAI

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Commercial space station company VAST is building a private microgravity research lab as part of its wider Haven-1 station plans. The module is set to launch no earlier than H2 2025. The lab includes 10 payload slots that are equivalent to 10 “middeck lockers” on the International Space Station (ISS) — a standard payload container measurement on the ISS. Each of those slots, roughly the size of a microwave oven, can accommodate payloads up to 30 kg (66 lb) while providing 100W of continuous power and Ethernet data connectivity. Similar to the ISS, the payloads will be operated by a crew onboard Haven-1, and researchers will be able to return samples or products from the lab via capsules like SpaceX’s Dragon. Those astronauts will be assisted by ground operators via Starlink laser links. TechCrunch | Aria Alamalhodaei #spacestation #spaceexploration #microgravityresearch https://lnkd.in/gkts_gaE

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🚀 The Robotics Revolution is Here! 🌍 At CES 2025, Jensen Huang made a powerful statement: "The ChatGPT moment for robotics is coming. Physical AI will revolutionize the $50 trillion manufacturing and logistics industries. Everything that moves—from cars and trucks to factories and warehouses—will be robotic and embodied by AI." I couldn’t agree more. at ORKID we’re leading the way in transforming industries with our multirole drones, built to deliver results in logistics, energy, agriculture, and defense. Robotics and automation are reshaping how we work and live today. In the next five years, we’ll see this shift redefine industries, and we’re proud to be part of that change. What’s New for 2025? I’m excited to share that our new Orkid 260 VTOL drones will come equipped with the cutting-edge, NDAA-compliant ARK electronics autopilot system bundled with the powerful NVIDIA Jetson Orin computer. This integration will take our AI capabilities to the next level, enabling our drones to get smarter, more efficient, and safer with every flight.  There’s more to come. 2025 is just beginning, and we’re ready to keep pushing boundaries in robotics and aerospace. If you’re passionate about logistics, sustainability, or cutting-edge technology, let’s connect and shape the future together. 🌟 #CES2025 #AI #Robotics #DroneTechnology #LogisticsRevolution #Orkid https://lnkd.in/eZzbSupk

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AST SpaceMobile Stock Surges, Hits $5.6B Market Cap 🛰 Huge news from AST SpaceMobile as share price jumped another 18% yesterday, bringing its year-to-date market gains to a staggering 326%. The company’s market cap now sits at $5.6B, ranking it among the highest-valued space businesses in the world after SpaceX. AST SpaceMobile Stock Surges, Hits $5.6B Market Cap - Payload (payloadspace.com)

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