A Price Adjustment to Support Telescope Live's Evolution and Upgrades

Dear all,

We have an important message to share, one that signifies not just growth and evolution but a passionate commitment to providing the absolute best in our service to you.

We are announcing an adjustment to our prices starting on January 1st, 2024.

In this article, you'll find the details of the price adjustments and the reasons behind them.

Let’s start with saying that this is not a decision taken lightly, nor is it one made out of thin air. It is a choice driven by our vision and by the commitment to better serve you, our beloved community.

When we embarked on this journey together, our mission was clear: to make astrophotography more accessible and to break down the barriers impeding its practice.

It is a mission that we are relentlessly pursuing, a mission that necessitates change, improvement, and for the first time in our history, a re-evaluation of resources.

We understand that any mention of a price increase might raise concerns. However, the essence of this adjustment is not disruptive but rather evolutionary.

The changes will impact the monthly plans' prices, the costs of credits purchased outside of your plan (only for some currencies), the costs of Advanced Requests, and a revision of the moon discount.

It's important to note that the number of credits that come with your plan and the features you enjoy will remain unchanged.

We believe it's also important to remember that our prices have remained unchanged since the launch of Telescope Live in 2019 while global inflation grew by over 15%. 

This price revision is not just about meeting our operational costs but about investing in the future. 

As you know, we’ve always reinvested everything we gained into the development of new features, new services, and in improving the quality of our network.

In a moment, I will tell you more about the future developments, but for now, let’s address the elephant in the room.

Below are the new prices that will be enforced starting on January 1st, 2024.

As I’ve already said, these updates are designed to support and accommodate the recent and future improvements to our platform. But let’s dive together for a second on these aspects to see what we’ve done so far to improve your experience and - more importantly - what will happen in the future.

What we have done in the past 12 months

Without considering the previous developments and improvements, in the past 12 months only, we've been consistently enhancing our offer and functionalities.

New Download Manager

With the world’s largest archive of astrophotography images, it’s fair to say downloading is a key aspect of your Telescope Live experience.

That’s why we’ve been working to make the downloading process quicker and easier for our users, developing a new downloader for seamless transfer of your data.

Brand New CMOS Cameras

In our quest to provide you with only the best instruments to practice astrophotography, the quality of our telescope cameras is crucial. Historically, Telescope Live has relied on top-tier CCD cameras. But as even the best CCDs degrade over time, and with CMOS technology emerging as the frontrunner, we've opted to upgrade.

That’s why we’ve partnered with QHY, selecting the QHY 600 monochromatic camera with its Sony IMX455—renowned for low noise, minimal dark current, and exceptional resolution.

Tutorials and Webinars

We have massively worked on your learning experience related to post-processing, observing, and astronomy.

In fact, we are adding brand new and exclusive tutorials on a weekly basis.

Moreover, starting from July 2023, we are holding a minimum of 2 webinars per month on different aspects related to astrophotography and astronomy. These webinars are later made available as tutorials.

The majority of these resources are made exclusively for our community and are driven by the will to give you all the instruments necessary to improve and hone your skills so that you can overcome the steep learning curve associated with astrophotography.

Tutors

We are constantly scouting the astrophotography community, adding more experts with their unique view on post-processing to bring you more learning resources on the software and processing styles that best suit your own workflow and needs.

The Telescope Live Community Forum

Finally, we’ve opened the Telescope Live Internal Forum, a place where you can interact, learn, and share your journey - from beginner questions to expert insights. Thanks to the brand new forum, you can delve into topics ranging from equipment setup to image processing, share your stories, successes, and unique tricks. Moreover, you can contribute with feedback and ideas to shape the Telescope Live project.

What’s next?

But this is far from being the end of our journey. Thanks to the feedback received after the survey conducted in June 2023, we are working on further developments that are part of a bigger vision - the launch of Telescope Live 4.0.

This version will bring radical enhancements to the platform, new features, bug fixes, and a significantly improved end-user experience.

The first of the new developments will be the access to a brand new selection of planetary datasets.

Indeed, within Q4 of 2023, we will launch the Planetary Imaging section that will allow you to download planetary datasets ready to be post-processed - datasets that will be accompanied by further learning resources. These resources will be created in collaboration with some of the best planetary imagers in the astrophotography community, focusing on this unique post-processing workflow.

As you might understand, these price adjustments are not just a mere price hike. They are stepping stones to a brighter, more enriched future for astrophotography and our entire community of space enthusiasts.

We understand that change can be challenging. But, like the universe itself, we must evolve and adapt to ensure the sustainability of our shared journey. Rest assured, the cosmos will always be within your reach, just a click away.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to drop us an email at support@telescope.live or send us a message via the chat box found at the bottom right corner of the screen.

We're profoundly grateful for your understanding, trust, and continued support. Our commitment to you remains as steadfast as the stars that light up our night sky.

Together, we can navigate these changes and continue our shared mission of unlocking the mysteries of the cosmos. Here's to embracing the future, advancing our knowledge, and continually reaching for the stars.

Clear Skies

Marco Rocchetto
Founder