AST SpaceMobile says it will build its own reusable rocket, Blacklift, using Firefly engines

AST SpaceMobile, which is building a network of large satellites designed to connect directly to ordinary smartphones, plans to launch them on a rocket of its own. In its third-quarter update on November 9, 2026, the company set out plans for Blacklift, a reusable rocket it describes as 20-ton, meant to deploy its BlueBird satellites into low Earth orbit starting in late 2028, up to five per launch. The rocket is to use Miranda and Vira engines from Firefly Aerospace.

Chief executive Abel Avellan said the rocket "is intended to provide greater control over launch availability, deployment schedules, and attractive ownership economics." AST's release and quarterly report do not say where Blacklift would launch from, and late 2028 is a target, not a date.

The engine deal

AST signed two agreements with Firefly on November 6, according to its quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission the same day as the results. The first gives AST a perpetual license to manufacture the Miranda engine and the vacuum version of the Vira engine, for $400 million in cash and an estimated 10 million to 14 million AST shares. Under the second, Firefly will supply the engines for the first three Blacklift rockets and provide engineering support over three years, for a $250 million services fee and a $250 million hardware fee. AST expects both agreements to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to customary conditions.

The stated fees come to $900 million before the shares, by our arithmetic. Firefly, in its own quarterly report filed on November 10, puts the total value of the cash and shares it expects at about $1.3 billion, with payments tied to milestones, and says it is still evaluating how to account for the deal.

The same engines power Firefly's own Eclipse rocket, which has not yet flown. Firefly's filing says Eclipse uses seven Miranda engines on its first stage and one Vira on its second, that Miranda uses the same architecture and tap-off cycle as the Reaver engine on Firefly's Alpha rocket, and that Vira is based on Alpha's second-stage Lightning engine. AST describes the engine architecture as having more than a decade of development and "proven flight heritage." Firefly said on November 10 that it had begun a qualification campaign for Miranda, with more than 170 hot-fire tests so far.

Until then, other companies' rockets

AST's next-generation Block 2 BlueBirds have so far flown on rockets built by others, with one loss. The company's filing gives the record below; it names the launch vehicle only for the April flight.

After the April loss, AST said, launch insurance covered part of the satellite and launch costs, and it expects a replacement launch under its contract with the launch provider. The write-off, net of insurance, cost $126.0 million in the first nine months of the year.

The next flights depend on other providers' schedules. BlueBirds 14, 15 and 16 were shipped to Cape Canaveral in September and are awaiting confirmation of a SpaceX launch date. BlueBirds 17, 18 and 19 are expected to ship by the end of November for a Blue Origin launch expected early in the first quarter of 2027, and BlueBirds 20 through 25 are to ship in December and January for launches the company expects in the same quarter under its Defense Priorities and Allocations System rating, a U.S. government priority designation. AST is targeting about 45 BlueBirds in orbit by the middle of 2027.

Why AST wants its own launcher

AST says it has 10 launches under contract and, counting expected launches tied to the priority rating and a non-binding agreement for at least five more, expects launches for more than 100 satellites in total by the end of 2028. It plans non-continuous service with 25 satellites, and believes about 45 to 60 would allow continuous coverage in key markets such as the United States, Europe and Japan, and about 90 continuous service in all its target markets.

The company warns in the same report that its rocket plan carries risks, from finalizing the design and completing test programs and demonstration missions to obtaining licenses, and that launch delays are common. A Blacklift first flight date has not been given; the late 2028 start is the only timing in AST's release.