AST SpaceMobile signs $1.3B Firefly engine deal

On November 6, 2026, AST SpaceMobile and Firefly Aerospace announced a deal valued at more than $1.3 billion for engines, technology licensing, and engineering support for Blacklift, a 20-ton reusable heavy-lift rocket AST plans to develop. Firefly will supply 27 Miranda and 9 Vira engines for the first three rockets. AST will pay about $800 million upfront for a manufacturing license ($400 million cash and 10 to 14 million Class A shares), $250 million for those engines, and $250 million over three years for engineering services, and will build a new U.S. engine manufacturing facility. Blacklift is designed to carry up to five BlueBird satellites per launch, with operations targeted for late 2028. AST SpaceMobile founder, chairman, and CEO Abel Avellan said Blacklift is the springboard to expand the company's total addressable market with regular unconstrained access to orbit. Firefly CEO Jason Kim called it a bold transformational deal for both firms and the space industry and said it lets Firefly build and test faster across its launch portfolio. ASTS shares edged higher and Firefly shares climbed 20%. A public unveiling is set for New York City on November 12, 2026. AST said it will keep using outside launch providers for deployments already planned in 2027 and 2028.