AST SpaceMobile to License Firefly Engines for Own Blacklift Rocket

The Tip Desk · November 6, 2026 · 3 min read

The satellite operator will custom-build a 20-ton Blacklift rocket using Firefly’s Miranda and Vira engines, with first launches planned for late 2028.

AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) said it will build its own 20-ton rocket, named Blacklift, to deploy BlueBird satellites in low Earth orbit using Miranda and Vira engines from Firefly Aerospace (FLY).

The space-based cellular broadband operator said the custom-built rocket, designed for reusability and enabling up to five BlueBird satellites per launch, is intended to complete end-to-end vertical integration and ensure regular unconstrained access to orbit starting in late 2028.

Under a license agreement, AST SpaceMobile will pay approximately $800 million in upfront consideration, comprised of $400 million in cash and 10 to 14 million shares of Class A common stock, as determined by a forward VWAP calculation, to acquire the perpetual license to manufacture the Miranda and vacuum-variant Vira engines. Under a separate supply and services agreement, the company will pay $250 million for engines for its first three rocket launches and $250 million over three years for engineering support. AST SpaceMobile said it will produce the engines at a new U.S. manufacturing facility.

Founder, Chairman and CEO Abel Avellan framed the rocket as a market-expansion step. “The Blacklift rocket is the springboard to significantly expand our total addressable market, providing AST SpaceMobile with regular unconstrained access to orbit and providing for most favorable owners’ economics in the industry. This will accelerate our mission to build a new layer of global connectivity, extending connectivity beyond terrestrial networks and helping to bring AI-enabled services wherever people live, work and travel,” he said. Firefly CEO Jason Kim called it “a bold transformational deal for Firefly, for AST SpaceMobile, and for the space industry,” and said the Miranda engine “will allow us to leapfrog the traditional five-to-ten-year development cycle as we build Blacklift.”

The announcement supplements AST SpaceMobile’s contracted multi-partner orbital launch strategy. The company said it will continue to use external providers, with agreements now covering in total over 100 BlueBird satellites expected to be deployed cumulatively between 2027 and 2028. In the second quarter of 2026 it reported 13 BlueBird spacecraft in orbit after launches of BlueBirds 11, 12 and 13, with BlueBirds 14 through 16 ready to ship and production ongoing through BlueBird 46. It had targeted approximately 45 satellites in orbit by the end of 2026, supported by manufacturing cadence and a multi-partner launch strategy. Revenue backlog stood at approximately $1.30 billion in aggregate contracted revenue with commercial partners and U.S. Government contract awards.

Firefly Aerospace is a space and defense technology company that enables government and commercial customers to launch, land and operate in space. In the second quarter ended June 30, 2026 it reported record revenue of $117.7 million, up 45.5% from the prior quarter, and said it expected full-year 2026 revenue of $420 million to $450 million. The quarter included a $144 million NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services contract for a sixth contracted Blue Ghost lunar mission, a $75 million NASA JPL subcontract for the MoonFall mission, and an Air Force Research Laboratory contract for SciTec. It also acquired Space-ng for AI-powered vision navigation and autonomous guidance on Blue Ghost landers and Elytra orbital vehicles.

AST SpaceMobile said the Blacklift rocket will complement in-house manufacturing of the largest phased arrays operating in low Earth orbit, using a proven engine architecture with flight heritage and over a decade of development. President Scott Wisniewski said the in-house capability would let the company serve commercial and government customers across an expanded market beyond direct-to-device, including U.S. Government radar, secure communications, IoT, federal emergency, AI edge compute and additional funded networks.