Firefly Aerospace Signs $1.3 Billion Deal With AST SpaceMobile to Deliver 36 Rocket Engines

09:15 AM EST, 11/06/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Firefly Aerospace (FLY) has signed a $1.3 billion cash-and-stock agreement to deliver 36 rocket engines, comprising 27 Miranda engines and nine vacuum-variant Vira engines, for AST SpaceMobile's (ASTS) first three rockets, Firefly said Friday. The deal also includes a license to the engine's intellectual property and three years of engineering support for AST SpaceMobile's new heavy-lift rocket, Firefly said. In a separate statement, AST SpaceMobile said it plans to build its own 20-ton rocket to deploy its BlueBird satellites in low Earth orbit using the Miranda and Vira engines. The rocket, named Blacklift, will be designed for reusability, aimed at enabling up to five BlueBird satellites per launch starting in late 2028, the company said. AST SpaceMobile said it plans to produce the technology at a new engine manufacturing facility in the US.