10 Nov Midland’s AST SpaceMobile Plans to Build Its Own Rockets, With Launches Starting in Late 2028

AST SpaceMobile, whose BlueBird satellites are assembled at Midland International Air and Space Port, is moving into rocket manufacturing, according to the Midland Reporter-Telegram. The rocket, called Blacklift, is meant to be reusable and to carry as many as five BlueBird satellites on each flight, with launches expected to begin in late 2028.

Blacklift will run on Miranda and Vira engines from Firefly Aerospace. Under an agreement between the companies, Firefly will supply the engines for the initial three rockets and offer three years of engineering support. AST SpaceMobile will also gain a perpetual license, giving it the right to produce the Miranda engine and the vacuum-variant Vira at a planned U.S. engine plant.

The license carries roughly $800 million in upfront consideration, made up of $400 million in cash and 10 million to 14 million shares of Class A common stock, with the final share count set by a forward VWAP calculation. AST SpaceMobile will separately pay $250 million for engines covering its first three launches and another $250 million for the three years of engineering support, which puts the total near $1.3 billion.

Reporting described the vehicles as 20-ton rockets. AST SpaceMobile plans to share more about Blacklift Nov. 12 at a New York City unveiling.

The company’s BlueBird satellites are the largest phased arrays ever put into low Earth orbit, and production at the Midland facility has reached BlueBird 51. Building its own rockets would extend AST SpaceMobile’s push to control the full process, from satellite manufacturing through launch. It will still use outside launch companies, and its agreements with them now span over 100 satellites slated for deployment in 2027 and 2028.