MLAstro

The first MLAstro SAL-33 Batch 6 mounts are heading out today.

After reviewing our shipping experience and working closely with our courier partners, we have decided to switch the last-mile carrier in the United States from USPS to FedEx for all Batch 6 shipments and future orders.

All shipments to the United States will now require an adult signature upon delivery and include proof of delivery. This provides better security for high-value equipment and helps protect both our customers and ourselves from theft, misdelivery, and package loss.

For other countries and regions, we are also working with our logistics partners to add proof of delivery and signature-required services wherever possible.

Unfortunately, USPS service quality has noticeably declined over the past few months. In the last three months alone, we have experienced two confirmed package losses and are currently investigating a third possible loss. At this point, we feel a change is necessary.

From a purely financial perspective, this decision makes little sense. FedEx shipping costs us at least twice as much as USPS. In fact, it would be cheaper for us to continue using USPS and simply absorb the occasional loss.

But we do not see a lost package as just a financial cost. It is frustration, stress, and wasted time for the customer. It is also frustration, stress, and extra work for us. Nobody wins when a package disappears in transit.

For that reason, we have decided to absorb the additional shipping cost rather than increase shipping fees. International shipping is already expensive enough, and we do not feel it is fair to pass this increase on to our customers.

We hope this change will make deliveries more reliable and give everyone greater peace of mind while waiting for their equipment to arrive.

Quick update on the MLAstro One preorder lucky draw:

Emails have now been sent both to customers who made it onto the lucky list and customers who did not.

Please check your inbox, and also your spam or promotions folder just in case.

For bank transfer orders, please follow the instructions in the email to complete your preorder.

Thank you again to everyone who joined the first 24 hours of the MLAstro One preorder. Your support means a lot to us. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming days.

First 24 hours of the MLAstro One preorder have officially passed. And honestly, I still cannot quite believe what just happened. We received 179 orders in the first 24 hours.
That is far beyond anything I dared to hope for.
From the bottom of my heart, and I speak on behalf of the whole MLAstro team, thank you. Sincerely. MLAstro started as a discussion between me and two fellow astronomers about making an aluminum Sol’Ex kit. It began as something made by a friend, for a friend.
Somehow, it grew into something much bigger than we expected. But no matter how big this gets, deep down, for me, it is still the same thing: friends making instruments for friends. And we will do everything we can to protect that core value.
As promised, we will perform the lucky draw from those 179 first-day orders.
The lucky list of 50 customers will be announced tomorrow, June 12, at 20:00 GMT+7.
Winners will also be notified by email. After the lucky draw result is announced:
Customers who selected bank transfer and made the lucky list should deduct $200 from their order total before making payment.
Customers who selected bank transfer but did not make the lucky list should proceed with payment as normal.
You will have up to one week after the lucky draw result is announced to complete the bank transfer and secure your place in the preorder.
For winning customers who already paid via PayPal, we will manually issue the $200 partial refund.
If any winning customer has already completed a bank transfer before the draw, we will handle that refund manually as well.
Please give us some time to process these refunds, as they will be handled one by one.
This launch was beyond my wildest dreams.
We know this kind of support comes with responsibility, and we do not take that lightly.
We promise we will do everything we can to make the MLAstro One the dream mount you have been waiting for.
Thank you, sincerely.
The real work starts tomorrow.
Production hell is ahead, and there will no doubt be plenty of challenges in bringing a prototype design into mass production. But we will rise to meet every one of them.
Today, though, we feast.
I really need that beer now. :D
Cheers.

Quick update on the MLAstro One first batch preorder.
We are only 4 hours into the preorder, and the first batch is already down to the last 50 units.
At this pace, the first batch probably will not last the full 24 hours as we originally expected.
Honestly, MLAstro One is doing far beyond anything I dared to hope for, and we could never have gotten here without your incredible support.
Thank you to everyone who placed an order, shared the launch, cheered for us, gave feedback, or simply believed that a small team like ours could build something like this. Your support means a lot, and we do not take it lightly.
We will do everything we can to repay that faith.
For everyone in the first batch, I want to make one thing clear: early adopters will not be left behind. If there are future hardware updates for MLAstro One, we will do our best to keep first batch units updated to the latest hardware revision wherever possible.
I cannot promise that every future hardware change will be retrofittable. Some changes may depend on mechanical limits, redesign constraints, or production realities. But I can promise that we will do everything reasonably possible to support early adopters and keep your mounts as up to date as we can.
One of the biggest reasons we designed MLAstro One the way we did is modularity. Almost every major part of the mount is designed to be serviceable, replaceable, and upgradeable without forcing users to buy a whole new mount.
That is not meant to be a marketing buzzword. We intend to make the modular design work in practice, for real users, over the long term.
So if you want to get into the first batch, please place your order soon.
Once this batch is gone, the second batch preorder will follow with an estimated shipping window of late December 2026. However, second batch buyers will not be eligible for the lucky draw.
To make the late October shipping window possible, MLAstro One production is already underway. Because of that, we cannot make room for more than the units already planned for batch one.
Thank you again, everyone. This launch has already gone beyond my wildest dreams.

It’s here, folks.

The MLAstro One preorder is officially open, and it is already flying off the imaginary shelves.

After months of development, testing, redesigning, arguing with physics, and occasionally questioning our life choices, the MLAstro One is finally ready for preorder.

The first batch is now open. If you have been waiting to secure one, now is the time.

We expect the first batch to ship around late October 2026. Customers who place an order within the first 24 hours will also be entered into the early-shipping lucky draw, with selected orders getting early September shipping and $200 off.

Thank you to everyone who has followed this project from the early prototypes to this launch. The response so far has been a little ridiculous, in the best possible way.

MLAstro One is officially live. I repeat it's live!

Less than 24 hours until MLAstro One preorders open.

A few important notes to help everything go smoothly:

1. Shipping Schedule & Early Delivery Lucky Draw

All first-batch preorders are currently estimated to ship between late October and early November. Please make sure you're comfortable with this timeline before placing an order.

To celebrate the launch, everyone who places an order within the first 24 hours after preorders open will automatically be entered into a lucky draw.

We will randomly select 50 customers to receive:

- Early shipment in late August to early September
- A $200 discount on their order

We are expecting around 100 orders on the first day, so realistically, you are probably looking at roughly a 1/2 to 1/3 chance of getting onto the lucky list.

Not bad at all.

2. Payment & Lucky Draw Winners

If you pay via PayPal, your order will be charged in full at checkout. If you're selected in the lucky draw, we will issue a $200 partial refund afterward.

If you plan to pay via bank transfer, please wait until the lucky draw winners are announced. If you're selected, simply deduct $200 from your order total before making payment.

Bank transfer orders have up to 7 days to complete payment.

3. Supported Payment Methods

MLAstro currently supports two payment methods:

- PayPal, including credit card payment through PayPal
- Bank transfer

If you wish to pay by credit card through PayPal, please select USD as your checkout currency.

For bank transfers, we support five major currencies:

- USD
- EUR
- GBP
- CAD
- AUD

We maintain domestic receiving accounts for each of these currencies, so in most cases you only need to make a local domestic transfer rather than an international wire.

If possible, we'd greatly appreciate customers choosing bank transfer, as it helps reduce processing costs.

4. Production Timeline Expectations

The MLAstro One is a brand-new product. Scaling production from a working prototype to full-scale manufacturing inevitably comes with challenges and unexpected obstacles.

We've already built schedule margins into our production plan to account for potential delays, but please remember that all shipping estimates are exactly that: estimates.

If delays occur, we will communicate them clearly and promptly.

That said, our track record speaks for itself. Historically, we've consistently met or beaten our published delivery schedules.

The countdown is almost over.

Are you ready?

Working on the MLAstro One overview video.

The product page will go live this Monday, together with the overview videos.

And yes, I know the motor cables are a little long and messy on this prototype. The production version will have shorter cables, and we may add a cable clip or two to keep everything tidier.

But looking back at it, this is still pretty impressive. We managed to add fully robotic polar alignment with only a very modest increase in footprint and weight. The whole RPA kit is only about 1.5 kg, yet it turns polar alignment from a manual chore into an automated process.

Fully robotic observatory, here I come, babe.

Only 5 days to go until the launch of the MLAstro One.

Excited yet?

We're putting the finishing touches on the product page, and over the next few days we'll be publishing detailed specifications, features, performance data, and a closer look at what makes the MLAstro One our most ambitious product to date.

Stay tuned. The wait is (almost) over.