AST SpaceMobile announced it is moving from building satellites into building its own launch vehicles, anchored by a deal valued at more than $1.3 billion with Firefly Aerospace — 27 Miranda engines and 9 vacuum-variant Vira engines for the first three of its planned heavy-lift "Blacklift" rockets, plus a licence for AST to manufacture the engines and three years of engineering support (
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Firefly Aerospace ·
SpaceNews). Blacklift is a 20-ton-class reusable rocket to carry five BlueBird satellites per launch, targeted from late 2028; Firefly's Miranda and Vira technology also powers a separate medium-lift "Eclipse" vehicle AST has slated for 2027 with roughly 18 tons to low Earth orbit. CEO Abel Avellan: "We are done waiting." The move follows launch delays — 13 satellites in orbit against a year-end goal of 45, with Blue Origin's May 2026 New Glenn explosion hobbling a launch provider — and July comments that AST would vertically integrate to mitigate third-party launch risk; agreements with external providers still cover more than 100 BlueBird launches in 2027 and 2028, and the stock has slid from $133 in May to roughly $28 amid sharp investor skepticism. Watch: the November 12 earnings call detail, the 45-satellite goal's re-dating, and Blacklift's late-2028 schedule.
