AST SpaceMobile's Blacklift Rocket Targets a 2028 Debut

The business case rests on serving more customers, gaining regular access to orbit and improving economics for company owners.

How will Firefly's engines and licensing work?

AST SpaceMobile will not start from scratch. It has signed an agreement with Texas-based Firefly Aerospace to supply engines and associated engineering services for Blacklift's first three launches. The “supply and services” agreement is worth $500 million.

The division of labor is explicit:

• Miranda will power the booster, or first-stage propulsion.
• Vira will power the upper stage, the propulsion system above the booster.
• Neither engine has flight experience.

Firefly's currently operational Alpha rocket uses Reavers in its booster and Lightnings in its upper stage. AST SpaceMobile says Miranda has fired for more than 4,200 seconds over 175 hot fires, meaning controlled ground tests of the engine.

AST SpaceMobile President Scott Wisniewski said: “The Miranda engine will allow us to leapfrog the traditional five-to-10-year development cycle as we build Blacklift.” The company believes Miranda's ground-test history could shorten a development cycle that normally takes five to 10 years.

After the first three launches, AST SpaceMobile plans to build the engines itself under a separate licensing agreement. That agreement cost the company about $800 million, with half paid in cash and half in stock.

The agreements give AST substantial engine-test work and a path to in-house production, but both new engines remain unflown.

How much can Blacklift launch?

AST SpaceMobile says Blacklift will be able to haul 20 tons to LEO. The company says each launch can carry up to five BlueBird satellites.

For comparison, SpaceX's Falcon 9 has an LEO lift capacity of about 25 tons. Blacklift would therefore offer less capacity than Falcon 9 but a dedicated path for AST SpaceMobile's satellites.

AST already holds contracts with other launch providers to send more than 100 BlueBird satellites into orbit during 2027 and 2028. That lets the company expand the constellation while Blacklift remains under development.

AST plans to keep expanding BlueBird through other rockets even before its own launcher becomes available.

Could Blacklift arrive in a tighter launch market?

Blacklift's announcement came 10 days after Cowboy Space unveiled Big Iron, a rocket designed to launch a constellation of 20,000 AI data centers. Cowboy Space also targets a 2028 first flight.

SpaceX has said it plans to phase out Falcon 9 and its Falcon Heavy lifter after Starship becomes operational. That milestone could arrive within the next few years.

The transition could create a launch crunch, meaning tighter competition for launch slots, as SpaceX prioritizes its own satellites with Starship. In that context, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has suggested that 100,000 Starlink V3 satellites and 1 million Starmind AI data centers will need launching.

Those proposed schedules and capacities remain targets rather than demonstrated performance. Blacklift's 2028 debut and its two new engines still face substantial development risk.

Blacklift gives AST SpaceMobile a hedge against tighter competition for launch slots, though its proposed debut remains a target.