Serious Finding About Voyager

Starkeeper Voyager Starkeeper Voyager Advanced Advanced
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Dark Matters Astrophotography avatar
Dark Matters Astrophotography avatar

We at Dark Matters want to share a finding with you all. While we feel Voyager is an excellent platform and does a wonderful job of running imaging rigs from small backyard systems to multi-million dollar systems in expensive remote configurations — We have to call something out about Voyager Advanced that we do not think is fair at all, nor represents the values of our company in doing so.

Namely that is when a user purchases the Advanced license, they are given access to the RoboTarget portion of the software, which is a fantastic piece of engineering. So good we have run our business on it for 3 years and running. What is not good about this, is that to send JSON requests to the Application Server to create new Targets in RoboTarget, you are met with a license denial, even with the Advanced License you paid extra for — you are not allowed to do this.

You are license locked from those methods and are asked to pay for another “NDA” license.

Due to this Dark Matters Astrophotography is evaluating our options to move our entire fleet off of Voyager Advanced. We wanted to make this clear to folks in the community considering this platform, and those that have likely enjoyed the data from our systems. While we still believe Voyager is the best software for producing the best data possible — this licensing paradigm is not fair at all to consumers.

Paying for Voyager Advanced at a premium, and being asked to pay yet again a premium “NDA License” just to access what you already paid for is a completely unfair practice that does reflect the values of our company and thus we will cease to use the Voyager platform as long as this policy remains in place.

We have shared our displeasure of this policy with the vendor — so please don’t bolt on here with complaints or grievances. That is not the point of this post — it is to share what we found trying to do basic programatic work on top of using the software manually in case others are considering similar work.

Thanks,

Bill Long

Founder, Dark Matters Astrophotography

PS: The em dashes were written by me, not AI. :)

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Salvatore Iovene avatar
Salvatore Iovene avatar

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Discussion about astrophotography software, workflows, automation, and licensing models is absolutely allowed here. Many of us rely heavily on third-party tools, and understanding how they work, including their technical and licensing constraints, is useful to the community.

That said, please keep this thread focused on factual information and technical discussion. AstroBin is not the place for vendor disputes, public pressure campaigns, or reputational debates about specific companies.

If the discussion shifts toward vendor grievances or escalates beyond technical scope, the thread will be closed.

Let’s keep it constructive and focused on the practical aspects that can help other astrophotographers make informed decisions.

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Dark Matters Astrophotography avatar
Dark Matters Astrophotography avatar

Thanks Sal!

To be completely transparent with folks, here is what I asked (not verbatim, as sharing direct verbatim digital conversations is illegal and also immoral). All of the things you see below are paraphrased in their entirety.

DM: Can I use the Application Server to send Targets and Slot definitions to Voyager.

Voyager: Yes, we have over 50 API methods you can use if you get an NDA License, and every system that runs your code also gets an NDA License.

DM: We will just send the data from users to RoboClip, which is exposed in the standard API for Voyager without the Advanced license.

DM: (thinking): Why the hell would anyone pay you for this advanced license if they don’t get access to any of the RoboTarget methods?

DM: Hey, we don’t think you can actually do that. We paid for these functions, why can’t we use them?

Voyager: We have the NDA License you can buy.

Folks can make of this as you wish. Personally and for our business, as much as we appreciate well working acquisition products, we cannot endorse predatory software engineering and business practices.

Thus, we will migrate off. Either to our own solution or something else. If you are a developer that has a novel product that does acquisition, we would love to chat with you.

Please do not flood this response with posts about NINA. We are very aware of it and already have that on the list to evaluate.

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Arun H avatar
Arun H avatar
Hi - out of a sense of fairness for Voyager - what do the terms and conditions say about what the advanced license offers?

Also, I'd think there is some responsibility on the consumer (especially if the consumer is a business), if things are ambiguous, to clarify before the purchase of the license? 

Just wanting to make sure we have a clear picture of the situation here.
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andrea tasselli avatar
andrea tasselli avatar
I can't find mention of this "NDA" license in their website, am I blind?
Dark Matters Astrophotography avatar
Dark Matters Astrophotography avatar

Arun H · Feb 20, 2026 at 12:54 PM

Hi - out of a sense of fairness for Voyager - what do the terms and conditions say about what the advanced license offers?

Also, I'd think there is some responsibility on the consumer (especially if the consumer is a business), if things are ambiguous, to clarify before the purchase of the license? 

Just wanting to make sure we have a clear picture of the situation here.

Luckily for Astrobin, this isn’t Google. The license is available for you to read and comment about. Continually posting like a search query participant is getting pretty old, Arun.

andrea tasselli · Feb 20, 2026 at 01:14 PM

I can't find mention of this "NDA" license in their website, am I blind?

It is not there, it is something they tell you in email after the fact.

Arun H avatar
Arun H avatar
@Salvatore Iovene  - In my opinion, this thread should be locked on the basis of the following statememnt:
we cannot endorse predatory software engineering and business practices.

This is a very serious accusation for which, again in my opinion, not sufficient evidence was provided.

I suggest that a better option would be for the OP to simply open a separate thread saying:

" I am looking for an alternative to Voyager that does X and Y. I am soliciting suggestions. I am also considering developing my own software that does this and will inform the community of my progress".
Salvatore Iovene avatar
Salvatore Iovene avatar

Thanks everyone for contributing to this discussion.

It’s completely appropriate to discuss astrophotography software here, including features, APIs, licensing structures, and practical workflow limitations. Those conversations are valuable and help people make informed decisions.

However, this thread has moved beyond a technical discussion and into ethical characterizations and personal remarks. AstroBin isn’t the place to host reputational disputes or business grievances about third-party vendors.

For that reason, I’m closing this thread here.

If anyone would like to open a new discussion focused strictly on technical aspects, such as API capabilities, automation options, software comparisons, or alternative solutions, that is absolutely welcome.

Thanks for understanding.

Salvatore

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