AST SpaceMobile Inc (ASTS) 2022 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the AST SpaceMobile First Quarter 2022 Business Update Call. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Scott Wisniewski, Chief Strategy Officer of AST SpaceMobile. Please go ahead.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 AST SpaceMobile 2022 年第一季度業務更新電話會議。請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。我現在想把會議交給你今天的演講者，AST SpaceMobile 的首席戰略官 Scott Wisniewski。請繼續。

Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. Let me refer you to Slide 2 of the presentation, which contains our safe harbor disclaimer. During today's call, we may make certain forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions, and as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements on this call. For more information about these risks and uncertainties, please refer to the Risk Factors section of AST SpaceMobile's annual report on Form 10-K for the year that ended December 31, 2021, with the Securities and Exchange Commission and other documents filed by AST SpaceMobile with the SEC from time to time.

謝謝大家，大家下午好。讓我請您參閱演示文稿的幻燈片 2，其中包含我們的安全港免責聲明。在今天的電話會議中，我們可能會做出某些前瞻性陳述。這些陳述基於當前的預期和假設，因此受到風險和不確定性的影響。許多因素可能導致實際事件與本次電話會議的前瞻性陳述存在重大差異。有關這些風險和不確定性的更多信息，請參閱 AST SpaceMobile 截至 2021 年 12 月 31 日止年度的 10-K 表格年度報告中的風險因素部分，以及 AST SpaceMobile 向證券交易委員會提交的其他文件美國證券交易委員會不時。

Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and the company specifically disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking statements that may be discussed on this call. Also, after our initial remarks, we will be starting our Q&A section with questions submitted in advance by our shareholders.

提醒讀者不要過分依賴前瞻性陳述，公司明確表示不承擔更新本次電話會議中可能討論的前瞻性陳述的任何義務。此外，在我們的初步發言之後，我們將開始我們的問答部分，其中包含股東提前提交的問題。

With that, I would like to introduce Chairman and CEO of Abel Avellan, and our new Chief Financial Officer, Sean Wallace to the call as well. Abel, over to you.

有了這個，我想向電話會議介紹 Abel Avellan 的董事長兼首席執行官，以及我們的新任首席財務官肖恩·華萊士 (Sean Wallace)。亞伯，交給你了。

Thank you, Scott. For those of you who may be new to our company, I want to take a few minutes to explain our mission on what is actually what we're doing.

謝謝你，斯科特。對於那些可能對我們公司不熟悉的人，我想花幾分鐘時間來解釋一下我們的使命，即我們正在做什麼。

AST SpaceMobile is building the first and only global cellular broadband network in the space to operate directly with standard modifying mobile devices based on our extensive IP and patent portfolio.

AST SpaceMobile 正在該領域建立第一個也是唯一一個全球蜂窩寬帶網絡，以基於我們廣泛的 IP 和專利組合直接與標準修改移動設備一起運行。

Our engineers and space scientists are on a mission to eliminate the connectivity gaps faced by today 5 billion mobile subscribers and finally bring broadband to the billions who remain unconnected. We believe this to be a very large opportunity and allowed us to participate in the 1 trillion annual wireless service market.

我們的工程師和太空科學家的使命是消除當今 50 億移動用戶面臨的連接差距，並最終為數十億未連接的用戶提供寬帶服務。我們相信這是一個非常大的機會，讓我們能夠參與到每年 1 萬億的無線服務市場。

While it has been only a short 6 weeks since our last public update, we have made strong progress, and I would like to take you through that now. Turning to Slide 4, technology and industrialization update. We're on target for our planned BlueWalker 3 summer launch.

雖然距離我們上次公開更新只有短短的 6 週時間，但我們已經取得了長足的進步，現在我想帶您完成這一切。轉到幻燈片 4，技術和產業化更新。我們正朝著計劃中的 BlueWalker 3 夏季發布目標邁進。

In preparation for this milestone, we have completed over 700 BlueWalker 3 tests to the date. Once in orbit, we're expected to test cellular broadband globally with participating cellular operators in the U.S. Japan, Europe, Africa, South America and Asia.

為了準備這個里程碑，迄今為止，我們已經完成了 700 多項 BlueWalker 3 測試。一旦進入軌道，我們預計將與美國、日本、歐洲、非洲、南美和亞洲的參與蜂窩運營商一起在全球範圍內測試蜂窩寬帶。

This effort will be supported by ground control centers in Maryland, Colorado and Australia that have been ready to support BlueWalker 3 post-launch operations. We're also putting in space ground stations and approvals to support the planned BlueWalker 3 summer launch, including the FCC experimental license, which was recently granted by the FCC. We are on target for the completion during 2022 of our extension production facility, Site 2 in Texas to support our target of up to 6 satellites per month. We had increased to more than 2,300 patent and patent pending claims supporting a strong and expanding competitive advantage.

這項工作將得到馬里蘭州、科羅拉多州和澳大利亞的地面控制中心的支持，這些中心已準備好支持 BlueWalker 3 的發射後操作。我們還投入了空間地面站和批准，以支持計劃中的 BlueWalker 3 夏季發射，包括最近由 FCC 授予的 FCC 實驗許可證。我們的目標是在 2022 年完成我們在德克薩斯州的擴展生產設施 Site 2，以支持我們每月最多 6 顆衛星的目標。我們的專利和未決專利申請已增加到 2,300 多項，支持強大且不斷擴大的競爭優勢。

Turning to Slide 5, business update. We have successfully added a new MOU with Globe Telecom, an operator in Philippines with 86.8 million subscribers. We then -- we have now more than 1.8 billion subscribers represented by mobile network operators with whom we have agreements and MOUs.

轉到幻燈片 5，業務更新。我們已成功與擁有 8680 萬用戶的菲律賓運營商 Globe Telecom 簽署新的諒解備忘錄。然後，我們現在擁有超過 18 億的用戶，由與我們簽訂協議和諒解備忘錄的移動網絡運營商代表。

We recently received an FCC experimental license for BlueWalker 3, space-to-ground testing in the United States using 3GPP low-band cellular spectrum and Q/V-band frequencies.

我們最近獲得了 BlueWalker 3 的 FCC 實驗許可證，該許可證在美國使用 3GPP 低頻段蜂窩頻譜和 Q/V 頻段頻率進行空對地測試。

And also recently, we had added a $75 million committed equity facility with B. Riley that provides AST with the right, but not the obligation to raise equity capital over the next 24 months.

而且最近，我們與 B. Riley 增加了 7500 萬美元的承諾股權融資，為 AST 提供了在未來 24 個月內籌集股本的權利，但沒有義務。

Before I hand it off, I wanted to thank our retiring CFO, Tom Severson, for all his time and for building AST SpaceMobile over the last 5 years. We have worked over the last 6 months to find the best partner for the next phase of growth to the company.

在我交出它之前，我想感謝我們即將退休的首席財務官 Tom Severson，感謝他在過去 5 年中付出的所有時間和構建 AST SpaceMobile。在過去的 6 個月裡，我們一直在努力為公司下一階段的發展尋找最佳合作夥伴。

And I'm now happy to introduce Sean Wallace, our incoming Chief Financial Officer. He brings to the team deep telecom, financial and capital market experience to be added to the team to support our future growth. With that, let me transfer to Sean now.

現在我很高興地介紹我們即將上任的首席財務官肖恩·華萊士。他為團隊帶來了深厚的電信、金融和資本市場經驗，以支持我們未來的發展。有了這個，讓我現在轉移到肖恩。

Thanks, Abel. Sorry about that. Good afternoon, everyone, and I wanted to share my excitement about joining the AST team. As an experienced telecom CFO and banker, the work I did to understand the AST story continue to lead me to conclude that this project, given its global ambitions has the potential of making a large and profound impact on the world's connectivity ecosystem by solving what is probably the most critical problem faced in the mobile industry today, providing global cellular broadband coverage directly to standard unmodified mobile phones.

謝謝，亞伯。對於那個很抱歉。大家下午好，我想分享我加入 AST 團隊的興奮。作為一名經驗豐富的電信 CFO 和銀行家，我為了解 AST 的故事所做的工作繼續讓我得出這樣的結論：鑑於其全球雄心，這個項目有可能通過解決什麼問題對世界連接生態系統產生巨大而深遠的影響。可能是當今移動行業面臨的最關鍵問題，直接向標準未修改的移動電話提供全球蜂窩寬帶覆蓋。

In support of this ambitious plan, I met a strong and innovative management team that has attracted a deep bench of talent. I was comforted by the significant strategic sponsorship of leading telecom companies such as Vodafone, American Tower and Rakuten.

為了支持這個雄心勃勃的計劃，我遇到了一支強大且創新的管理團隊，該團隊吸引了大量人才。沃達丰、美國鐵塔和樂天等領先電信公司的重要戰略贊助讓我感到欣慰。

I was impressed by how quickly this team has developed relationships with leading MNOs across the globe that have more than 1.8 billion subscribers in total. And as we have discussed today on this call, I have to congratulate the team on its continued progress towards meeting important milestones, which indicates a strong execution capability.

這個團隊與全球領先的移動網絡運營商建立關係的速度之快給我留下了深刻的印象，這些移動網絡運營商的用戶總數超過 18 億。正如我們今天在電話會議上討論的那樣，我必須祝賀團隊在實現重要里程碑方面不斷取得進展，這表明了強大的執行能力。

I want to provide an update on a series of activities that the company has been focused on and highlight some of the liquidity and financial metrics for the first quarter.

我想提供公司一直關注的一系列活動的最新信息，並強調第一季度的一些流動性和財務指標。

As we have stated before, A key innovation proposed by AST is the development of an industrialized procurement and manufacturing process for our planned satellite fleet. Historically, satellites have been manufactured one at a time in job shop facilities. AST is developing a state-of-the-art assembly line process designed to enable AST to scale the procurement of parts, lower assembly costs and materially speed up the volume of production.

正如我們之前所說，AST 提出的一項關鍵創新是為我們計劃中的衛星艦隊開發工業化採購和製造流程。從歷史上看，衛星是在車間設施中一次製造一顆。 AST 正在開發一種最先進的裝配線工藝，旨在使 AST 能夠擴大零件採購規模、降低裝配成本並顯著加快生產量。

These efforts are expected to enable AST to lower the cost of its satellites and enable the company to meet its goal of ultimately building up to 6 satellites per month.

預計這些努力將使 AST 能夠降低其衛星的成本，並使該公司能夠實現其最終每月建造多達 6 顆衛星的目標。

As part of this goal, I would like to highlight some of the activities the team has accomplished during the first quarter. First, AST has made progress in reconfiguring its new Texas AIT facility designed to house the satellite assembly and test line. The company has retrofitted and remodeled the facility, built a clean room for critical assembly processes and the facility is now ready to house and support inventory from manufacturing as well as the assembly and testing line.

作為這一目標的一部分，我想強調一下團隊在第一季度完成的一些活動。首先，AST 在重新配置其新的德克薩斯 AIT 設施方面取得了進展，該設施旨在容納衛星組裝和測試線。該公司已經對該設施進行了改造和改造，為關鍵裝配過程建造了一個潔淨室，該設施現在已準備好容納和支持來自製造以及裝配和測試線的庫存。

Our efforts to integrate an ERP system to support our inventory management and manufacturing process continues at pace, and we believe that the entire system will go live during the second half of this year.

我們繼續努力整合 ERP 系統以支持我們的庫存管理和製造流程，我們相信整個系統將在今年下半年上線。

Just as importantly, we continue to hire experienced leadership and make human capital investments across all functions and offices. Let me discuss some of the highlights regarding our liquidity and expenditures. We ended the first quarter with $255.1 million in cash.

同樣重要的是，我們將繼續聘請經驗豐富的領導者，並在所有職能部門和辦公室進行人力資本投資。讓我討論一下關於我們的流動性和支出的一些亮點。我們以 2.551 億美元的現金結束了第一季度。

We believe this cash is sufficient to support our cash expenditures for more than the next 12 months. As you saw from our recent announcement regarding our B. Riley committed equity facility, we continue to evaluate a variety of capital raising efforts to extend the runway of our liquidity.

我們相信這筆現金足以支持我們未來 12 個月以上的現金支出。正如您從我們最近關於 B. Riley 承諾股權融資的公告中看到的那樣，我們將繼續評估各種籌資努力，以擴大我們的流動性跑道。

We are focused on exploring a wide range of options and remain confident that we have a broad set of funding opportunities. For the first quarter, we had GAAP operating expenses of $32.7 million versus $31.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2021, including non-cash operating expenses of $3.4 million and $2.7 million, respectively.

我們專注於探索廣泛的選擇，並對我們擁有廣泛的融資機會充滿信心。第一季度，我們的 GAAP 運營費用為 3270 萬美元，而 2021 年第四季度為 3130 萬美元，其中非現金運營費用分別為 340 萬美元和 270 萬美元。

We expect to continue to expand that level for the next several quarters. The $1.4 million increase in costs during the first quarter was related to increased employee costs and other research and development and engineering expenses as we ramp up the development and infrastructure investments to support the BlueBird 1 program.

我們預計未來幾個季度將繼續擴大這一水平。第一季度成本增加 140 萬美元與員工成本以及其他研發和工程費用增加有關，因為我們加大了開發和基礎設施投資以支持 BlueBird 1 計劃。

For the first quarter, we made capital expenditures of $21.6 million, which includes a payment to SpaceX for BlueWalker 3 technical adjustments in connection with the previously disclosed SpaceX multi-launch services agreement. As mentioned earlier, we have substantially completed assembly and testing for BlueWalker 3 and are turning our investments towards the production of our BlueBird satellites.

第一季度，我們進行了 2160 萬美元的資本支出，其中包括向 SpaceX 支付與先前披露的 SpaceX 多發射服務協議相關的 BlueWalker 3 技術調整的費用。如前所述，我們已經基本完成了 BlueWalker 3 的組裝和測試，並將我們的投資轉向生產我們的 BlueBird 衛星。

And with that, I'll turn it back to Scott.

有了這個，我會把它轉回給斯科特。

Thanks, Sean. Before we go to the queue of analyst questions, I would like to address a few of the questions submitted ahead of the call by our investors.

謝謝，肖恩。在我們進入分析師問題隊列之前，我想解決投資者在電話會議之前提交的一些問題。

Operator, could you please start us off with the first question?

接線員，請您從第一個問題開始好嗎？

Brian from Toronto asked, when will you know definitively that the technology actually works from space?

來自多倫多的布賴恩問，你什麼時候才能明確知道這項技術實際上是在太空中發揮作用的？

Thank you, Brian, for the question. After we launched, we expect to within a week -- within an hour or 2 to know we were successful launched and put into the orbit that we are expecting. After that, we will wait for the right timing to basically deploy the satellite, which is basically opened the satellite into its final configuration.

謝謝你，布賴恩，你的問題。在我們發射後，我們預計會在一周內——在一兩個小時內知道我們已經成功發射並進入了我們預期的軌道。之後，我們將等待合適的時機來基本部署衛星，這基本上是將衛星打開到其最終配置中。

That would be within a week or 2 after the launch. That's obviously a major phase and it's something that we will know within a week or 2 of the launch. And after that, we go through a 6-month process of testing with the operators. We have selected locations around the globe, in the U.S., Europe, Africa, South America and Asia, including Japan, we'll be doing testing with the selected telecom partners.

那將是在發布後的一周或兩週內。這顯然是一個主要階段，我們將在發布後的一周或兩週內知道這一點。之後，我們與運營商進行為期 6 個月的測試。我們已在全球範圍內選定地點，包括美國、歐洲、非洲、南美洲和亞洲，包括日本，我們將與選定的電信合作夥伴進行測試。

Christopher from Florida asked, if BW3 fails, will BB1 serve as the next test satellite to continue optimizing the new system? If not, then how long would you expect it to take to build and launch another test satellite?

來自佛羅里達的克里斯托弗問，如果 BW3 失敗，BB1 會作為下一個測試衛星繼續優化新系統嗎？如果不是，那麼您預計建造和發射另一顆測試衛星需要多長時間？

Thank you, Chris, for the question. Well, first of all, we have built redundance into BlueWalker 3, satellite across many of these systems, and we have conducted extensive testing to position the spacecraft to success in orbit. Our BlueBird program had been advancing along side the build and test of BlueWalker 3.

謝謝你，克里斯，這個問題。嗯，首先，我們在 BlueWalker 3 中建立了冗餘，這是跨越許多系統的衛星，我們進行了廣泛的測試，以使航天器在軌道上取得成功。我們的 BlueBird 計劃一直在推進 BlueWalker 3 的構建和測試。

We anticipate that our next launch after BlueWalker 3 will be a BlueBird satellite, incorporating the many lessons and advancements that we learnt during the build of BlueWalker 3. Our plan is that our production satellite phase will continue to advance with the launch of BlueBird satellites are currently planned, even in the event of any complication with BlueWalker 3, which we don't anticipate, but the next satellite will be a BlueWalker 3 followed by BB1.

我們預計 BlueWalker 3 之後的下一次發射將是 BlueBird 衛星，其中包含了我們在 BlueWalker 3 構建過程中學到的許多經驗教訓和進步。我們的計劃是隨著 BlueBird 衛星的發射，我們的生產衛星階段將繼續推進目前正在計劃中，即使 BlueWalker 3 出現任何我們沒有預料到的並發症，但下一顆衛星將是 BlueWalker 3，然後是 BB1。

Rick from the Netherlands asked, what is the desired situation to exercise the financing option? Is there a minimum stock price to exercise the deal? Can you elaborate more about the deal terms?

來自荷蘭的 Rick 問道，行使融資選擇權的理想情況是什麼？是否有執行交易的最低股價？您能否詳細說明交易條款？

Abel, why don't I take this?

亞伯，我為什麼不拿這個？

Yes. Go ahead.

是的。前進。

Thanks. The agreement with B. Riley provides us with access of up to $75 million of additional liquidity through our committed equity facility. It's accessible over 24 months, it gives us the right, but not the obligation to sell and issue shares of our Class A common stock to B. Riley at a 3% discount to what's known as the volume-weighted average trading price for the performance measurement period.

謝謝。與 B. Riley 的協議通過我們的承諾股權融資為我們提供了高達 7500 萬美元的額外流動性。它可以在 24 個月內使用，它賦予我們權利，但沒有義務以比所謂的成交量加權平均交易價格折價 3% 的價格向 B. Riley 出售和發行我們的 A 類普通股股票測量週期。

This is a tried and through an extremely efficient way of raising incremental capital. And it's really a function with our line of maintaining regular and diverse access to various capital markets, while preserving our existing cash for building our BlueBird production satellites. It's highly flexible, but also, as I said earlier, we will continue to look at a variety of sources of capital whether it's credit or equity from governmental financial institutions, commercial partners as well as the equity debt and hybrid capital markets to continue to fund our plans going into the future.

這是一種經過嘗試且非常有效的籌集增量資本的方法。這確實是我們維持定期和多樣化進入各種資本市場的路線的一項功能，同時保留我們現有的現金用於建造我們的 BlueBird 生產衛星。它非常靈活，而且正如我之前所說，我們將繼續關注各種資金來源，無論是來自政府金融機構、商業合作夥伴的信貸還是股權，以及股權債務和混合資本市場，以繼續提供資金我們的未來計劃。

Terry from Georgia asked, do you have any plans to potentially transport multiple BlueBird satellites on a single launch?

來自佐治亞州的特里問，你們有沒有計劃在一次發射中運輸多顆藍鳥衛星？

Yes, we have carefully planned our launch strategy together with the development of our satellites. For us, it's critical to be able to launch multiple satellites on a single launch. And we have -- don't -- saw based on multiple launch vehicles in order to be launch agnostic, which allowed us to have access to multiple providers in order to give us flexibility.

是的，我們已經仔細規劃了我們的發射戰略以及我們的衛星發展。對我們來說，能夠在一次發射中發射多顆衛星至關重要。我們已經 - 不要 - 看到基於多個運載火箭以便與發射無關，這使我們能夠訪問多個供應商以便為我們提供靈活性。

We ramp up production. We expect that we will be using large launch vehicles that can support multiple BlueBird satellites. We are very encouraged by the many large launch vehicles that are coming into service from SpaceX and other launch providers.

我們提高產量。我們預計我們將使用可以支持多顆藍鳥衛星的大型運載火箭。我們對 SpaceX 和其他發射供應商投入使用的許多大型運載火箭感到非常鼓舞。

Steve from Arizona asked. Supply chain problems have been creating havoc since the pandemic began. How resilient is your supply chain? How many critical components have only a single vendor available? Have you been stockpiling these components?

來自亞利桑那州的史蒂夫問道。自大流行開始以來，供應鏈問題一直在造成嚴重破壞。您的供應鏈彈性如何？有多少關鍵組件只有一個供應商可用？您是否一直在儲備這些組件？

Yes. Well, supply chain is obviously is something very important. We are actively engaged with third-party vendors to secure our supply components and materials for BlueWalker satellites. We had agreements for all the major subsystems for the constellations. We have and will continue to invest in all the long lead items that we require for the system. We have also mitigated the recent supply chain by using FPGAs and systems that are configurable and available now. We will -- we feel that we can continue to execute on our plan despite any potential supply chain issues.

是的。那麼，供應鏈顯然是非常重要的東西。我們正積極與第三方供應商合作，以確保我們為 BlueWalker 衛星供應組件和材料。我們就星座的所有主要子系統達成了協議。我們已經並將繼續投資於系統所需的所有長期領先項目。我們還通過使用可配置且現在可用的 FPGA 和系統來緩解最近的供應鏈。我們將 - 儘管存在任何潛在的供應鏈問題，但我們認為我們可以繼續執行我們的計劃。

Steve from Arizona asked. Are neon gas shortages caused by the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, causing any concerns about semiconductor availability needed for the BlueBird builds?

來自亞利桑那州的史蒂夫問道。俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭是否會導致氖氣短缺，從而引發對 BlueBird 建造所需的半導體可用性的擔憂？

Yes. I have said before, we're basing our satellites based on FPGA, which are basically configurable and flexible. So we are not exposed to potential market shortages of semiconductors. Delay the BlueBird ones, which we're looking our own chips will be based on using TSMC technology for our ASICs. So the first BlueBird ones will be based on FPGA, the second will be based on our own ASIC, which is part of our own development.

是的。我之前說過，我們的衛星基於 FPGA，它基本上是可配置和靈活的。因此，我們不會受到潛在的半導體市場短缺的影響。延遲 BlueBird 的產品，我們正在尋找我們自己的芯片將基於使用台積電技術用於我們的 ASIC。所以第一個 BlueBird 將基於 FPGA，第二個將基於我們自己的 ASIC，這是我們自己開發的一部分。

Great. And with that, I'd like to thank our shareholders for submitting these questions.

偉大的。有了這個，我要感謝我們的股東提交這些問題。

Operator, let's open the call to analyst questions now.

接線員，讓我們現在開始向分析師提問。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our first question comes from Bryan Kraft with Deutsche Bank.

我們的第一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Bryan Kraft。

I had a few. I guess, first, in light of the deal with B. Riley. Can you talk about the relative attractiveness of issuing equity versus the other capital raising alternatives you have? And how you're thinking about the timing for raising capital given the rising rate environment?

我有幾個。我想，首先，鑑於與 B. Riley 的交易。您能談談發行股票相對於您擁有的其他融資方式的相對吸引力嗎？鑑於利率上升的環境，您如何考慮籌集資金的時機？

And then, I guess, a little bit separately, if you could share any additional specificity around timing for the BlueWalker 3 launch? I know you said this summer. I was wondering if you could narrow that at all.

然後，我想，稍微分開一點，您是否可以分享有關 BlueWalker 3 發佈時間的任何其他特殊性？我知道你說過這個夏天。我想知道你是否可以縮小範圍。

And then finally, what does the timing look like at this point for the BlueBird commercial satellite launches?

最後，BlueBird 商業衛星發射的時機是怎樣的？

Thanks, Bryan. I'll take that. You want to take that?

謝謝，布萊恩。我會接受的。你想拿那個嗎？

Go ahead, Scott.

來吧，斯科特。

Bryan, I guess I'll take the first question on the use of equity and the use of equity versus other capital. I think for us, as we said, we have a diverse set of available sources of capital. And I think at this stage, we're eager to put a few of those in place small pieces, equity.

布萊恩，我想我會回答第一個關於股權使用以及股權與其他資本的使用的問題。正如我們所說，我認為對我們來說，我們擁有多樣化的可用資金來源。而且我認為在這個階段，我們渴望將其中的一些小塊放在適當的位置，股權。

And as Sean alluded to, other sources of capital, too. So for us, this is a flexible tool. It's something we can use at our election, and it's something that we want to use to make sure we can preserve our capital, $255 million at quarter's end for BlueBird's. So I think this is a good thing to have in our back pocket, and we'll use it as we see fit and other small pieces of capital this year are also available to us.

正如肖恩所暗示的那樣，其他資金來源也是如此。所以對我們來說，這是一個靈活的工具。這是我們可以在選舉中使用的東西，我們想用它來確保我們可以保留我們的資本，在季度末為 BlueBird 提供 2.55 億美元。所以我認為這是一件好事，放在我們的後袋裡，我們會在我們認為合適的時候使用它，今年我們也可以獲得其他小額資金。

The second question, I think, was on BlueWalker 3 timing specificity. I'll give a little bit of clarity on that. I mean the way to think about our timing, Bryan, is the satellite needs to leave for the launch pad, call it, up to 4 weeks before we launch. You can go a little tighter, but that's how we think about our internal planning.

我認為第二個問題是關於 BlueWalker 3 的時間特性。我會澄清一點。布萊恩，我的意思是考慮我們的時間安排是衛星需要離開發射台，打電話給它，最多在我們發射前 4 週。你可以走得更緊一點，但這就是我們對內部計劃的看法。

And as we work towards that, the satellite is going through final testing and we felt comfortable reaffirming our summer timeline. We're not waiting on any parts or subsystems at this point. And as we've talked about before, we have contractual commitments with SpaceX on timing within a range, but final timing is always subject to various steps and considerations and changes can occur.

在我們朝著這個目標努力的過程中，衛星正在進行最終測試，我們很樂意重申我們的夏季時間表。在這一點上，我們不等待任何部件或子系統。正如我們之前談到的，我們與 SpaceX 有關於某個範圍內的時間安排的合同承諾，但最終時間安排總是受制於各種步驟和考慮因素，並且可能會發生變化。

So for us, the process of managing that timeline is a very detailed, very technical launch checklist and we are doing that as highest priority to the company right now. So for us, we look forward to updating everybody in due course, but we reaffirm the summer timeline.

所以對我們來說，管理該時間表的過程是一個非常詳細、非常技術性的發布清單，我們現在將其作為公司的最高優先事項。所以對我們來說，我們期待在適當的時候更新每個人，但我們重申夏季時間表。

And then the last question was on BlueBird timing. I'll jump in there. No change from our last call. We're very focused on building and investing in our infrastructure. Abel mentioned, Site 2, and we're working towards the goal of getting those 2 facilities and our supply chain to deliver up to 6 satellites a month, and that's a goal that we have to achieve for 2023.

最後一個問題是關於 BlueBird 的時間安排。我會跳進去。與我們上次通話相比沒有變化。我們非常專注於建設和投資我們的基礎設施。 Abel 提到，Site 2，我們正在努力實現讓這 2 個設施和我們的供應鏈每月交付多達 6 顆衛星的目標，這是我們必須在 2023 年實現的目標。

So for us, we're raising towards that goal. And our intent will be to ramp up to that level during 2023. And thereafter, 2024 is a very important year to scale the constellation and achieve global coverage.

所以對我們來說，我們正在朝著這個目標前進。我們的目標是在 2023 年達到這一水平。此後，2024 年是擴展星座並實現全球覆蓋的非常重要的一年。

When would we expect the first BlueBirds to be launched actually?

我們預計第一批 BlueBirds 何時真正推出？

So we're starting construction of those this year on top of the investment that we're making now, and we haven't announced yet in 2023 when we plan to launch our first one.

因此，在我們現在進行的投資的基礎上，我們今年將開始建設這些項目，我們還沒有宣佈在 2023 年我們計劃推出我們的第一個項目。

Our next question comes from Chris Quilty with Quilty Analytics.

我們的下一個問題來自 Quilty Analytics 的 Chris Quilty。

Just wanted to clarify, I did not ask the Christopher from Florida question before. First question, as you roll out the testing on the BlueBird satellite, what do you have to invest in terms of CapEx? And what is the staging to build out the sort of gateway infrastructure for testing?

只是想澄清一下，我之前沒有問過來自佛羅里達的克里斯托弗問題。第一個問題，當您在 BlueBird 衛星上進行測試時，您需要在資本支出方面進行哪些投資？構建用於測試的網關基礎設施的階段是什麼？

Chris, are you referring to gateways for BlueWalker 3 or gateway for the constellation?

克里斯，您是指 BlueWalker 3 的網關還是星座的網關？

Just for BlueWalker.

只為藍行者。

Okay. So for BlueWalker, basically, we have 3 ground control centers, Maryland, Colorado and Australia. And then we have approximately 20 gateway stations that are pretty much getting online as we speak to basically get access to the spacecraft for telemeter control reasons.

好的。所以對於 BlueWalker，基本上，我們有 3 個地面控制中心，馬里蘭州、科羅拉多州和澳大利亞。然後我們有大約 20 個網關站，它們幾乎都在上線，因為我們說基本上可以出於遙測控制的原因訪問航天器。

And then we have -- as you know, we recently got the SEC approval for our testing. So we have gateways here in Midland and in Hawaii for access in the United States, our Q/V gateways. And also, we have been assigned for spectrum for do testing directly to the cell phones through the experimental license that we just got. So all of that is on time for our planned launch this summer. And it will be designed to basically take broadband capability directly to the handsets using our next satellite launch.

然後我們有 - 如你所知，我們最近獲得了美國證券交易委員會對我們測試的批准。因此，我們在米德蘭和夏威夷設有網關，用於訪問美國，我們的 Q/V 網關。而且，我們已經被分配了頻譜，通過我們剛剛獲得的實驗許可證直接對手機進行測試。因此，所有這些都是我們計劃在今年夏天推出的時間。它將被設計為使用我們的下一次衛星發射將寬帶功能直接帶到手機上。

Got it. And can you remind us, as you move to the BlueBirds, who handles that ground station CapEx? Is that fronted by your partners? Or is AST responsible for that spending?

知道了。當你搬到 BlueBirds 時，你能提醒我們，誰負責地面站的資本支出？這是你的合作夥伴所面對的嗎？還是 AST 負責這筆支出？

Yes, we had an agreement with American Tower for having to carry neutral locations where we actually place the gateways. Typically, the gateways CapEx, the NOVs, the court and interconnection of all of that, it is actually part of the agreement to be fulfilled by the operator.

是的，我們與 American Tower 達成協議，必須在我們實際放置網關的地方設置中立位置。通常，網關資本支出、NOV、法院和所有這一切的互連，實際上是由運營商履行的協議的一部分。

We do install the actual gateways the antennas typically in a carrier-neutral location either owned by American Tower or owned by the operator itself.

我們確實將天線的實際網關安裝在通常由 American Tower 擁有或由運營商自己擁有的運營商中立位置。

Great. And can you remind us how do you eventually migrate once you go through the experimental testing on both the gateway feeder links and obviously, the user links to a fully operational FCC, ITU approved usage of the spectrum?

偉大的。您能否提醒我們，一旦您在網關饋線鏈路上進行了實驗測試，顯然，用戶鏈接到完全運行的 FCC、ITU 批准的頻譜使用，您最終將如何遷移？

Yes. Well, we have our filings on the ITU and then, as you know, every country provide their own approvals for the use of our spectrum or the use of the seller-operator spectrum. So in the case of United States, we have the gateways that will be co-located in American Tower locations.

是的。好吧，我們向國際電聯提交了文件，然後，如您所知，每個國家都為使用我們的頻譜或使用賣方-運營商頻譜提供自己的批准。因此，就美國而言，我們的網關將位於美國塔的位置。

Those gateways, they are subject to their own license. They are using satellite spectrum, V-band, Q/V-band in order to connect from the gateways up to the satellite. And then we will work with our partner -- operator -- with our partner cellular operator to use their spectrum in the area where they don't have the respect to deploy. That's the basic setup. That is what we have been doing very actively in many countries, starting with the country that will be first in operations.

那些網關，它們受制於自己的許可證。他們正在使用衛星頻譜、V 波段、Q/V 波段，以便從網關連接到衛星。然後我們將與我們的合作夥伴 - 運營商 - 與我們的合作夥伴蜂窩運營商合作，在他們不尊重部署的區域使用他們的頻譜。這就是基本設置。這就是我們在許多國家一直非常積極地開展的工作，首先是首先開展業務的國家。

And that seems to be a process -- a regulatory process that is working for us. We're very encouraged by the experimental license we got from the FCC. But we continue country by country, getting these grants for operations of our system.

這似乎是一個過程——一個對我們有用的監管過程。我們從 FCC 獲得的實驗許可證讓我們深受鼓舞。但我們繼續逐個國家，為我們的系統運行獲得這些贈款。

And specific to the Q/V-band gateway feeder links, that's a relatively new deployment, I think EchoStar is also using that on their Jupiter 3. What have you done in terms of testing, either ground testing or optimally the satellite testing to ensure the strength of those feeder links?

具體到 Q/V 波段網關饋線鏈路，這是一個相對較新的部署，我認為 EchoStar 也在他們的 Jupiter 3 上使用它。你在測試方面做了什麼，無論是地面測試還是衛星測試以確保這些饋線鏈接的強度？

Yes. Just to put it in context, I mean, these feeder links are for the gateways. You get -- in the United States, you need 2. 3 for redundancy, to add redundancy. And the coverage area of these links are very, very small within a few kilometers.

是的。只是為了把它放在上下文中，我的意思是，這些饋線鏈接用於網關。你得到 - 在美國，你需要 2. 3 來實現冗餘，以增加冗餘。而且這些鏈路的覆蓋範圍非常非常小，只有幾公里。

So it's -- they are basically designed where you place your gateways and then you get universal coverage through the cellular spectrum. V-band is very attractive because of the amount of capacity that has allowed us to group a significant amount of cellular spectrum into the gateways where we interconnect to the cellular operators.

所以它 - 它們基本上是設計在您放置網關的地方，然後您可以通過蜂窩頻譜獲得普遍覆蓋。 V 波段非常有吸引力，因為容量允許我們將大量蜂窩頻譜分組到我們與蜂窩運營商互連的網關中。

And we have done -- we have actually installations of these type of gateways already. We have the equipment that we have procured to basically access this spectrum. And we will continue testing them with the launch of BlueWalker 3 and with the experimental license that we got from the FCC.

我們已經完成了——我們實際上已經安裝了這些類型的網關。我們擁有基本訪問該頻譜的設備。我們將通過 BlueWalker 3 的發布和我們從 FCC 獲得的實驗許可證繼續測試它們。

And just if I can, one final question due to the Ukraine war, there's been a bit of a shortage of access on Antonov aircraft, which are typically moved to -- used to transport satellites. Were you planning on using air transport? Or given your location in Texas where you're already planning on using ground transport for the satellites?

如果可以的話，由於烏克蘭戰爭，最後一個問題是，安東諾夫飛機的通道有點短缺，這些飛機通常被轉移到 - 用於運輸衛星。你打算使用航空運輸嗎？或者考慮到您在德克薩斯州的位置，您已經計劃為衛星使用地面運輸？

No, we're planning to use ground transportation. The container for BlueWalker 3 is actually -- already built. We will be talking from Midland to Cape Canaveral. It will be 1 day, 1.5 day trip. We also are in contact with the city also to bring train rails into the facility, we plan to connect it to the train system that we get towards our 6 satellites per month capability. But at the beginning, our baseline launch are based on U.S. launches, and we plan to use ground transportation for that.

不，我們計劃使用地面交通。 BlueWalker 3 的容器實際上已經構建好了。我們將從米德蘭到卡納維拉爾角進行討論。這將是1天1.5天的旅行。我們還與該市保持聯繫，以將火車軌道引入該設施，我們計劃將其連接到我們獲得每月 6 顆衛星能力的火車系統。但一開始，我們的基線發射是基於美國的發射，我們計劃為此使用地面運輸。

Our next question comes from Andres Coello with Scotiabank.

我們的下一個問題來自豐業銀行的 Andres Coello。

I'm wondering if you could comment on how your MOUs with wireless carriers all over the world, will actually translate into a business opportunity once all the testing is over, if everything goes well. How did you translate the MOUs, for example, in Latin America with Millicom, Telefónica and other players? How do you translate them into a business opportunity? Or put it differently, if those MOUs imply an obligation by the wireless carrier to actually start working with you. Just any comment around the MOUs.

我想知道您是否可以評論一下您與世界各地的無線運營商的諒解備忘錄如何在所有測試結束後真正轉化為商機，如果一切順利的話。例如，在拉丁美洲，您是如何與 Millicom、Telefónica 和其他參與者翻譯諒解備忘錄的？您如何將它們轉化為商機？或者換一種說法，如果這些諒解備忘錄暗示無線運營商有義務實際開始與您合作。關於諒解備忘錄的任何評論。

Yes. Okay. Well, the terms of the MOUs barrier partner by partner, participating MNO -- by participating MNO. By and large, they're basically based on a revenue share, where we share the revenue that is being generated by our service inside the operator's network. So the operator retain the retail capability, they market and they sell the service.

是的。好的。嗯，諒解備忘錄的條款逐個合作夥伴，參與的 MNO - 通過參與的 MNO。總的來說，它們基本上是基於收入分成，我們在運營商網絡內分享我們的服務產生的收入。所以運營商保留零售能力，他們營銷和銷售服務。

The advertising service is through sending a text message to the user when the user gets out of coverage or by other means in the retail capability. They provide the spectrum. We provide the network. And based on that, there is a split on the revenue that is generated by that.

廣告服務是通過在用戶離開覆蓋範圍時向用戶發送文本消息或通過零售能力中的其他方式。他們提供頻譜。我們提供網絡。基於此，由此產生的收入存在分歧。

So when we count number of subs that we can access through the MOUs. When we say we have access to around 1.8 billion subscribers, what we are referring to is that the operators which we have agreements or MOUs, they do have 1.8 billion subscribers, and that -- those subscribers become accessible to us through this revenue share agreement.

因此，當我們計算可以通過諒解備忘錄訪問的潛艇數量時。當我們說我們可以訪問大約 18 億用戶時，我們指的是與我們簽訂協議或諒解備忘錄的運營商，他們確實擁有 18 億用戶，而且我們可以通過這個收入分成協議訪問這些用戶.

Then there is a retail pricing that's agreed between us, between the operators ourselves, that it depends on what the kind of service is. If it's -- whatever you go plan, whatever you're located, you get a service through SpaceMobile, that service get priced on a retail basis based on the contrary, and other factors. And then you have also the services that are target to serve people that live and work in places where there is no connectivity all the time So the fundamental is 90% of the air surface do not have several broadband. Within that 90% of the air surface, you have half of the world population that do not have cellular broadband and you have 3/4 of 1 billion people approximately without noticing. That's how we capitalize these agreements with our MNO through our technology.

然後是我們之間和運營商之間商定的零售價格，這取決於服務的類型。如果是——無論您計劃什麼，無論您位於何處，您都可以通過 SpaceMobile 獲得服務，該服務會根據相反的情況以及其他因素以零售方式定價。然後，您還擁有旨在為生活和工作在一直沒有連接的地方的人們提供服務的服務，所以基本是 90% 的空中表面沒有幾個寬帶。在這 90% 的空氣表面內，有一半的世界人口沒有蜂窩寬帶，而大約 10 億人中有 3/4 的人沒有註意到。這就是我們如何通過我們的技術利用與我們的 MNO 達成的這些協議。

But just to clarify, if the testing is successful, the MOUs create an obligation by the carrier to start using your services? Or if your understanding is just optional. I mean once you deliver the positive testings, and once you have your constellation ready, is there a clear commitment towards working with you? Or can they still pull out?

但只是澄清一下，如果測試成功，諒解備忘錄會產生運營商開始使用您的服務的義務嗎？或者，如果您的理解只是可選的。我的意思是，一旦你提供了積極的測試，一旦你準備好你的星座，是否有明確的承諾與你合作？還是他們還能退出？

Sure. I'll take this one. So our commitments and our agreements and MOUs vary. Some of them are binding agreements, but some of them are not. The purpose of these agreements, of course, is to align interests. We've been signing these since 2018 and to ensure that they participate in the development of the technology and regulatory approvals and also thinking through the business side as Abel took us through.

當然。我要這個。因此，我們的承諾、我們的協議和諒解備忘錄各不相同。其中一些是具有約束力的協議，但有些不是。當然，這些協議的目的是協調利益。自 2018 年以來，我們一直在簽署這些協議，以確保他們參與技術和監管審批的開發，並在 Abel 帶領我們完成業務方面進行思考。

At this point, though, as we get closer to launching service in each country, there will be definitive commercial agreements put in place typical for the telecom industry. Those are not ones that you saw in years in advance, they don't generate good terms for the seller or the capacity in that case.

不過，此時，隨著我們越來越接近在每個國家/地區推出服務，電信行業典型的最終商業協議將會到位。這些不是您在幾年前就看到的，它們不會為賣方或在這種情況下的能力產生良好的條件。

So we have some agreements that are binding and the others are MOUs. And those are agreements that we want to make into more definitive commercial agreements with clear pricing levels and clear SLAs among other terms. So that is a next step before we launch commercial service in any given country.

所以我們有一些具有約束力的協議，而其他的則是諒解備忘錄。這些是我們希望達成的更明確的商業協議，其中包含明確的定價水平和明確的 SLA 以及其他條款。因此，這是我們在任何特定國家/地區推出商業服務之前的下一步。

Our next question comes from Landon Park with Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的蘭登公園。

I was wondering if we could start out just in terms of the opportunities that you guys see ahead. How are you guys thinking about the non-consumer market in terms of the opportunity there, whether it's on the government military side or the enterprise side what type of role do you think you can play in those markets? And do you also expect to be eligible to potentially receive any funding from the B program here in the U.S.?

我想知道我們是否可以從你們看到的未來機會開始。你們如何看待非消費市場的機會，無論是在政府軍事方面還是在企業方面，您認為您可以在這些市場中扮演什麼樣的角色？您是否也期望有資格從美國的 B 計劃獲得任何資金？

Okay. Well, we obviously see that a significant number of other opportunities besides the consumer opportunity. However, we believe that the largest opportunity is the 5 billion people that move in connectivity every day and the 3/4 of 1 billion people that live and work in places where there is nothing.

好的。好吧，我們顯然看到了除了消費者機會之外的大量其他機會。然而，我們認為最大的機會是每天移動互聯的 50 億人，以及 10 億人中的 3/4 在沒有任何東西的地方生活和工作。

But having said that, there is IoT, defense and other type of opportunities that are going to be available to us, obviously, providing universal connectivity in countries, in whole continents, in areas where there is not any other means of connectivity directly to handsets, a very, very large opportunity that goes beyond the consumer opportunity.

但話雖如此，我們將獲得物聯網、國防和其他類型的機會，顯然，在國家、整個大陸、在沒有任何其他方式直接連接到手機的地區提供通用連接，一個非常非常大的機會，超出了消費者的機會。

To your question, yes, we plan to participate in the progress from the FCC, as it relates to extending 5E universally in the United States, we do believe that, that's important for the country. There's a lot of political will to make sure that every city can get connectivity, regardless where they live and work, both on a fixed type of connections and more into what we do, which is on a wireless cellular connection.

對於您的問題，是的，我們計劃參與 FCC 的進展，因為這與在美國普遍擴展 5E 有關，我們相信這對國家很重要。有很多政治意願來確保每個城市都能獲得連接，無論他們在哪裡生活和工作，無論是在固定類型的連接上，還是在我們所做的更多的事情上，即無線蜂窩連接上。

So yes, we do have plan to connect. All our models are primarily based on the retail, consumer opportunity, but of course, there's many other verticals that we will be able to tap as we develop our network.

所以是的，我們確實有連接的計劃。我們所有的模型都主要基於零售和消費者機會，當然，隨著我們網絡的發展，我們還可以利用許多其他垂直領域。

Just a follow up on that. Are there any particular use cases that stand out to you as particularly attractive within the government and enterprise markets? And is there any -- do you think that some of those markets would offer higher yield on your capacity against the consumer market? Or how are you thinking about that?

只是跟進。是否有任何在政府和企業市場中對您特別有吸引力的特殊用例？有沒有 - 你認為其中一些市場會在你的產能上提供更高的收益來對抗消費市場？或者你是怎麼想的？

Yes. It's Scott here. So as Abel said, it's a little unique for a satellite company to be going after this new market, right? The wireless market. And it's a very large market relative to legacy satellite opportunities even if some of those opportunities are nice. So we really like the mass market opportunity. It's one that our MNO partners are really key towards. But when many of our MNO partners are also very good at those other verticals you're talking about.

是的。這裡是斯科特。因此，正如 Abel 所說，衛星公司追求這個新市場有點獨特，對吧？無線市場。與傳統衛星機會相比，這是一個非常大的市場，即使其中一些機會很好。所以我們真的很喜歡大眾市場的機會。這是我們的 MNO 合作夥伴真正關鍵的一個。但是，當我們的許多 MNO 合作夥伴也非常擅長您所說的其他垂直領域時。

They're developing IoT government, enterprise depending on the company and depending on the region. So there are opportunities that are really strong. We've intentionally not highlighted which ones might be best because we want to focus on the mass market opportunity, but the interest is strong there. We get inbounds on resiliency, obviously, emergency backup.

他們正在開發物聯網政府，企業取決於公司和地區。所以有很多機會是非常強大的。我們故意沒有強調哪些可能是最好的，因為我們想專注於大眾市場的機會，但那裡的興趣很濃厚。我們獲得了彈性，顯然是緊急備份。

And then, of course, the fact that our network functions without a terminal remains a real cornerstone of a lot of the interest and noninterest we get even outside of the mass market opportunity.

然後，當然，我們的網絡在沒有終端的情況下運行這一事實仍然是我們在大眾市場機會之外獲得的許多興趣和非興趣的真正基石。

Great. Moving on to just some follow-ups on the questions regarding the feeder links. How many feeder links will each satellite have? And what is the channel sort of size in terms of gigahertz for those feeder lines?

偉大的。繼續討論有關饋線鏈接的問題。每顆衛星將有多少條饋線鏈路？這些饋線的通道大小（以千兆赫為單位）是多少？

Yes. We have, per satellite, up to 4 feeder links. Each feeder link is around 10 gigahertz per polarization. We have 2 polarizations on -- per antenna, on the spacecraft and then they down -- connect down to the gateways in country. Typically, depending on the size of the country, we have between 2 or 3 gateways or locations where we bring down those feeder links into the core network of the operators.

是的。我們有，每顆衛星，多達 4 個饋線鏈路。每個饋線鏈路的每個極化約為 10 GHz。我們有 2 個極化 - 每個天線，在航天器上，然後它們向下 - 連接到國家的網關。通常，根據國家的大小，我們有 2 或 3 個網關或位置，我們將這些饋線鏈路連接到運營商的核心網絡中。

Okay. So it's up to 4 lengths of 10 gigahertz and 2 polarizations. What type of modulation level do you think you can do in your feeder links?

好的。所以它最多有 4 個 10 GHz 的長度和 2 個極化。您認為您可以在饋線鏈路中進行哪種類型的調製？

Well, the way that the system is designed is basically to be a transparent being former. So basically the same modulations that we have coming from the phone app to the spacecraft and then translated into frequency to bring it down to the gateway. So are the classical modulation that you will see on the downlink from the spacecraft to the phone and from the phone to the spacecraft.

那麼，系統設計的方式基本上是透明的。所以基本上與我們從手機應用程序到航天器的調製相同，然後轉換成頻率以將其帶到網關。您將在從航天器到電話以及從電話到航天器的下行鏈路上看到的經典調製也是如此。

So there is actually -- it's a bent pipe, it's the same modulation that you get on the UE.

所以實際上——它是一個彎曲的管道，它與你在 UE 上獲得的調製相同。

I'm just wondering what -- so the feeder links will have the same -- so what is that modulation or how -- and what's the -- you're expecting?

我只是想知道什麼 - 所以饋線鏈路將具有相同的 - 那麼調製是什麼或如何 - 以及 - 你期望的是什麼？

Right. So it depends on many factors, but it's somewhere in the downlink between 3 bits per hertz to 6 bits per hertz and between 1.5 and 2 bits per hertz on the uplink.

正確的。所以它取決於許多因素，但它在下行鏈路中的某個位置，介於每赫茲 3 位到每赫茲 6 位之間，以及上行鏈路中的每赫茲 1.5 到 2 位之間。

Great. That's -- the uplink being the feeder link, you're saying?

偉大的。那就是——上行鏈路是饋線鏈路，你是說？

The uplink is the -- is from the phone into the spacecraft.

上行鏈路是——是從手機進入航天器。

Okay. Great. And on the BlueBird program, I can't -- I don't know if you reiterated the expense guidance up top. But given the expense issues we've seen in other parts of the industry. So what gives you the confidence that you're not going to see some amount of inflation come through over time? And do you think that there's any reasonable risk of that occurring over the next 12, 24 months?

好的。偉大的。在 BlueBird 計劃中，我不能——我不知道你是否在上面重申了費用指導。但考慮到我們在行業其他部分看到的費用問題。那麼是什麼讓你有信心隨著時間的推移不會出現一定程度的通貨膨脹呢？你認為在接下來的 12、24 個月內發生這種情況的風險是否合理？

Well, first of all, I mean, for our technology, we are highly vertically integrated. We have control of mostly every component that is in the spacecraft from reaction wheels, torques, flight computers, the micron in cells, which is a self-contained system, solar panels.

嗯，首先，我的意思是，對於我們的技術，我們是高度垂直整合的。我們幾乎可以控制航天器中的每個組件，包括反作用輪、扭矩、飛行計算機、電池中的微米，這是一個獨立的系統，太陽能電池板。

So our -- we are as vertically integrated as we think makes sense in order to keep costs and keep control of the cost, our costs, at this point, is very well known, not only with the build of BlueWalker 3, but this is a substantial advancement that we have and the agreement that we had in place for the provisioning of parts for the constellation.

因此，我們的 - 我們按照我們認為合理的方式進行垂直整合，以保持成本和控製成本，我們的成本，在這一點上，是眾所周知的，不僅在 BlueWalker 3 的構建中，而且這是我們已經取得了重大進展，並且我們已經達成了為星座提供零件的協議。

So on the last call, we reiterate our cost bases for BlueWalker -- for the BlueBird satellites. So we see no change in those at this point.

所以在最後一次電話會議上，我們重申了 BlueWalker 的成本基礎——BlueBird 衛星。所以我們在這一點上看不到這些變化。

So do you see that -- is there any significant risk in your mind to the upside over the next year? Or you feel quite confident in those expense numbers?

那麼您是否看到 - 您認為明年的上行風險是否存在重大風險？或者您對這些費用數字非常有信心？

We feel quite confident given where we are on the procurement phase of those parts.

鑑於我們處於這些零件的採購階段，我們感到非常有信心。

Great. And Sean, just one last question for you. Can you just go more into what attracted you to the company and perhaps any sort of diligence that you did on your side to get comfortable with the opportunity that the company has discussed.

偉大的。肖恩，最後一個問題要問你。您能否更深入地了解公司吸引您的原因，以及您為適應公司討論的機會所做的任何努力。

I think, I gave you an overview. I mean it's tough to do this over a call, but it's -- I had -- I have extensive contacts in the industry as a banker for quite a long time. So I did a lot of industry checks, was able to talk with industry experts who had either been in the industry or analyze the industry.

我想，我給你一個概述。我的意思是通過電話很難做到這一點，但它 - 我曾經 - 作為銀行家，我在這個行業有很長一段時間的廣泛聯繫。所以我做了很多行業調查，能夠與行業專家交談，他們要么從事過這個行業，要么分析過這個行業。

I spent time with a number of wireless operators who knew about the project. And it was a variety of market, technology, regulatory and getting to know the team and understanding it. And as I see it in my career, I saw almost 10 or 15 different projects to try to do something similar, but always had a challenge of a very, very expensive and customer equipment to take the downlink from the satellite.

我與一些了解該項目的無線運營商共事。這是各種市場、技術、監管以及了解和理解團隊。正如我在職業生涯中看到的那樣，我看到了近 10 或 15 個不同的項目來嘗試做類似的事情，但總是面臨著一個非常非常昂貴的客戶設備的挑戰，以從衛星上獲取下行鏈路。

And this is an incredibly exciting opportunity to do something where you'll be able to go after the entire cellular market and continue to help the 3 billion people around the world who don't have that gap. So a lot of work and discussions with industry people, regulatory, finance, et cetera, and made me very, very comfortable. It's exciting opportunity.

這是一個令人難以置信的令人興奮的機會，可以做一些事情，您將能夠追逐整個蜂窩市場並繼續幫助全球 30 億沒有這種差距的人。因此，與行業人士、監管機構、金融機構等進行了大量工作和討論，這讓我非常非常舒服。這是令人興奮的機會。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our next question comes from Griffin Boss with B. Riley Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自 B. Riley Securities 的 Griffin Boss。

So staying in on competition, Link is really the only player out there at the moment at least that I know of. And I understand it's a very large market, but are you seeing them in the market at all?

所以留在比賽中，林克是目前唯一一個至少我知道的球員。我知道這是一個非常大的市場，但你在市場上看到過它們嗎？

Or have they come up in your conversations with MNOs? Just any color you could provide on that front? And then similarly, on the MNO front, I believe you've said your partnership with Vodafone includes 5-year exclusivity. I was just curious, could you remind me, does that exclusivity timeline begin when commercial service starts?

或者他們是否出現在您與 MNO 的對話中？您可以在這方面提供任何顏色嗎？同樣，在移動網絡運營商方面，我相信您已經說過您與沃達丰的合作夥伴關係包括 5 年的獨家經營權。我只是好奇，你能提醒我一下，排他性時間表是從商業服務開始時開始的嗎？

Sure. Griffin, I'll take that. So second one, first. With Vodafone, you're correct, the 5-year mutual exclusivity in their 24 different markets around the world that starts at service initiation. So it was signed years ago, but that 5-year period starts with service initiation.

當然。格里芬，我會接受的。所以第二個，第一個。使用 Vodafone，您是對的，從服務啟動開始，他們在全球 24 個不同市場的 5 年互斥性。所以它是幾年前簽署的，但那 5 年的期限是從服務啟動開始的。

And in terms of other players that we run into, we don't really run into other players at this time. I think we've had success building the relationships with the mobile network operators from the early stages of the company. It's an opportunity, like Sean highlighted, that is really differentiated in and the mobile network operators who have -- many of them have bad experiences with satellites historically saw this as solving a lot of the problems in the past.

而就我們遇到的其他玩家而言，我們目前並沒有真正遇到其他玩家。我認為我們從公司的早期階段就已經成功地與移動網絡運營商建立了關係。就像肖恩強調的那樣，這是一個真正與眾不同的機會，移動網絡運營商——他們中的許多人在衛星方面有糟糕的經驗，過去認為這是解決了很多過去的問題。

And so it's one that's always resonated well, and you can see that in the success we've had adding more and more mobile network operators over the last few months, some of whom have over 100 or multiple hundreds of subscribers under their belt today.

所以它總是引起很好的共鳴，你可以看到，在過去幾個月中，我們已經成功地增加了越來越多的移動網絡運營商，其中一些運營商如今擁有超過 100 或數百個訂閱者。

So I think our opportunity resonates very well. I think as we approach our summer launch and plan for our constellation next year and the year after, the volume with the mobile network operators is growing, and that's really exciting to see. But we don't -- when we're working with the mobile network operators and thinking about the opportunity, it's not really one that they're benchmarking against anyone else at this time.

所以我認為我們的機會引起了很好的共鳴。我認為隨著我們接近夏季發布併計劃明年和後年的星座，移動網絡運營商的數量正在增長，這真的很令人興奮。但我們沒有——當我們與移動網絡運營商合作並考慮機會時，他們目前並沒有真正與其他任何人進行基準測試。

Got it. That's really helpful. And sort of sticking to the MNOs and jumping back a little bit in time here, but I know Verizon and T-Mobile had both filed petitions back at the end of 2020. I think November 2020 it was. Do -- did the FCC to deny the AST service. And to the extent you guys can speak about ongoing conversations or anything like that, have you had any progress with either of those 2 MNOs since then. I mean, as you've -- I mean, obviously, you guys have come to numerous agreements with other MNOs since then.

知道了。這真的很有幫助。並且有點堅持移動網絡運營商並在這裡及時回退一點，但我知道 Verizon 和 T-Mobile 都在 2020 年底提交了請願書。我認為是 2020 年 11 月。做——美國聯邦通信委員會拒絕了 AST 服務。在某種程度上，你們可以談論正在進行的對話或類似的事情，從那時起，你們與這 2 個 MNO 中的任何一個有任何進展嗎？我的意思是，正如你們——我的意思是，很明顯，你們從那時起已經與其他 MNO 達成了許多協議。

I didn't know if that more so validated the service to them and if you guys had sort of struck up conversations again at all?

我不知道這是否更有效地驗證了對他們的服務，以及你們是否再次開始了對話？

Sure. So I think the filings around the FCC docket were not unexpected more than a year ago now where folks typically lay out their positions relative to where they sit in the market. We think the U.S. market supports multiple providers for us for sure, and that's something that we want to approach.

當然。因此，我認為一年多前有關 FCC 案卷的文件並不出人意料，現在人們通常會相對於他們在市場上所處的位置列出他們的立場。我們認為美國市場肯定為我們支持多個供應商，這是我們想要解決的問題。

But we've not announced any conversations with any of those U.S. providers. And it's -- but I think our solution fits really well. And the U.S. market, in particular, is very interesting for our solution given the nature of the country and the distribution of coverage today. So I think the big 3, I'll certainly have a need for ourselves.

但我們尚未宣布與任何這些美國供應商進行任何對話。它是——但我認為我們的解決方案非常適合。鑑於該國的性質和當今的覆蓋範圍分佈，尤其是美國市場對我們的解決方案非常感興趣。所以我認為三巨頭，我肯定對自己有需求。

Got it. Okay. That's great. And then just one more quick one for me. Sean mentioned earlier that you were substantially completed with the BW3 investment. And I know on the last business update call, you said we should assume a little more than $80 million of overall investment in that. So I just wanted to make sure I understood correctly.

知道了。好的。那太棒了。然後再給我一個快速的。肖恩之前提到，您已經基本完成了對 BW3 的投資。我知道在上次業務更新電話會議上，您說我們應該為此承擔超過 8000 萬美元的總投資。所以我只是想確保我理解正確。

When you say you're substantially completed with that investment, does that mean as of right now or at the end of Q1? I'm just trying to get a better sense of whether we should assume any additional investments for BW3 in Q2 at all?

當您說您已基本完成該投資時，是指現在還是第一季度末？我只是想更好地了解我們是否應該在第二季度對 BW3 進行任何額外投資？

That was referring to as of today.

那是指截至今天。

At this time, I'm showing no further questions. I would now like to turn the call back over to management for closing remarks.

在這個時候，我沒有再提出任何問題。我現在想將電話轉回給管理層以結束髮言。

Great. Thank you, operator. Our company is building a space-based cellular broadband network designed for use of the phone in your pocket today. I want to thank everyone for joining both the shareholders and the research analysts for their questions. And I hope everyone has a great rest of the week.

偉大的。謝謝你，接線員。我們公司正在建設一個基於空間的蜂窩寬帶網絡，專為您現在口袋裡的手機使用而設計。我要感謝大家加入股東和研究分析師的提問。我希望每個人都度過了愉快的一周。

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

謝謝你。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。