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Firefly to Supply Engines for AST SpaceMobile Rocket in $1.3B Deal
Firefly will supply 36 engines and three years of engineering support as AST SpaceMobile moves to build its own reusable rockets.
- AST SpaceMobile signed a $1.3 billion agreement with Firefly Aerospace for 36 rocket engines, an intellectual property license, and engineering support over three years. The engines will power the first three Blacklift rockets, which AST is custom-designing.
- Seeking to reduce dependence on third-party launch providers, AST is developing its own 20-ton rocket, Blacklift. The move follows a May ground test explosion of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket that forced launch pauses.
- Firefly will supply 27 Miranda engines and nine vacuum-variant Vira engines for the new vehicles. However, Blacklift will not start launching until late 2028, limiting its immediate impact on AST's satellite deployment goals.
- The announcement drew mixed reactions; AST CEO Abel Avellan tweeted, "We are done waiting." Meanwhile, Reddit investors expressed concern, writing, "We're hanging on by a financial thread building and deploying insanely hard technical products."
- With only 13 satellites currently in orbit, AST faces delays launching continuous satellite-to-phone service for carriers like Verizon. The company will provide further rocket plan details during a November 12 earnings call.
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The American company ASST SpaceMobile plans to develop its own 20-ton launch vehicle for BlueBird satellites. ASST SpaceMobile will build its own 20-ton low-Earth orbit BlueBird rocket using the Miranda engines of Firefly Aerospace, and transmits RIA News with reference to the company's statement. The BlackLift will be designed and developed specifically for ASST SpaceMobile. Starting in late 2028, it is expected to launch up to five BlueBird sa…
Coverage Details
Total News Sources13
Leaning Left2Leaning Right2Center2Last UpdatedBias Distribution34% Left, 33% Center, 33% Right
Bias Distribution
- 34% of the sources lean Left, 33% of the sources are Center, 33% of the sources lean Right
34% Left
L 34%
C 33%
R 33%
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