Firefly Lands $1.3 Billion Engine Order to Power AST SpaceMobile's Heavy-Lift Rocket
Firefly Aerospace has signed an agreement worth more than $1.3 billion with AST SpaceMobile to deliver 36 rocket engines, license its engine intellectual property, and provide engineering support over three years for AST SpaceMobile's new heavy-lift rocket. The deal gives Firefly additional funds to accelerate its launch vehicle production and hands it a marquee commercial customer for its most powerful engines. The agreement supports AST SpaceMobile's effort to build and operate its own rocket
OST Staff · November 6, 2026
Firefly Aerospace has signed an agreement worth more than $1.3 billion with AST SpaceMobile to deliver 36 rocket engines, license its engine intellectual property, and provide engineering support over three years for AST SpaceMobile's new heavy-lift rocket. The deal gives Firefly additional funds to accelerate its launch vehicle production and hands it a marquee commercial customer for its most powerful engines.
The agreement supports AST SpaceMobile's effort to build and operate its own rocket, roughly 20 tons, to deploy its BlueBird direct-to-device satellites to low Earth orbit. Both companies are headquartered in Texas, and the agreement is described as non-competitive by design, with Firefly retaining full ownership of its engine intellectual property and continuing to serve the broader government and commercial launch market.
Under the terms, Firefly will deliver 27 of its Miranda engines and nine of its vacuum-variant Vira engines for AST SpaceMobile's first three rockets, and provide a license for AST SpaceMobile to manufacture the engines. AST SpaceMobile will pay more than $1.3 billion, consisting of cash and shares of AST Class A Common Stock, with the stock subject to various lock-up periods.
Firefly's Miranda engine has performed over 175 hot fire tests for more than 4,200 seconds, including a flight-like test at 110 percent performance of the 230,000 lbf thrust engine that ran 20 seconds beyond the nominal flight duration of 206 seconds. Both Miranda and Vira use flight-proven technology scaled from Firefly's Reaver and Lightning rocket engines, which were designed, built, and tested in-house using the company's patented tap-off cycle technology and vertically integrated approach.
"This is a bold transformational deal for Firefly, for AST SpaceMobile, and for the space industry," said Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace. "When a company sets out to build its own rocket, the engine is the hardest, highest-stakes decision they make, and AST SpaceMobile chose to partner with Firefly for its most powerful rocket engines." Abel Avellan, Founder, Chairman and CEO of AST SpaceMobile, said Firefly is one of a few companies in the United States with a proven liquid engine of this scale, calling it a scarcity in the industry.
The companies state the agreement gives AST SpaceMobile control of its own launch schedule while providing Firefly funds to expand production. Kim said the influx of funds allows Firefly to expand hiring, procure long-lead materials, source equipment, and fortify infrastructure, including multiple new test bays in Briggs, Texas. "The agreement supercharges Firefly's production system, more test bays at our Rocket Ranch, long-lead materials bought ahead, and a bigger team of engineers and technicians," Kim said, adding that this allows the company to build and test faster across its launch portfolio. Jefferies reiterated its rating on Firefly stock on the news.
Firefly will discuss the agreement during its third quarter 2026 earnings call scheduled for 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday, November 10, 2026.