AST SpaceMobile is developing its own route to orbit as it builds a direct-to-cell satellite network. Its reusable Blacklift rocket is designed to carry 20 tons to low Earth orbit, enough for as many as five BlueBird satellites per launch. The first flight is targeted for 2028, leaving the company several years to turn a design and engine agreements into a working vehicle.
Building launch capacity around BlueBird
The Texas-based company has put 13 BlueBird satellites into orbit so far, including eight Block 2 spacecraft. Each Block 2 satellite carries a 2,400-square-foot (223-square-meter) antenna, which the source describes as the largest commercial satellite antenna deployed in low Earth orbit. That scale shapes the launch problem: the spacecraft are built to deliver direct-to-cell connectivity, but their size and deployment cadence make access to suitable rockets a central part of the network plan.
Those satellites have flown on SpaceX’s Falcon 9, Blue Origin’s New Glenn and India’s Launch Vehicle Mark-3. Using several providers has allowed AST SpaceMobile to put spacecraft into orbit without waiting for its own rocket. Blacklift would give the company more control over launch scheduling as the constellation grows, though ownership of a launch vehicle also brings development and operational responsibilities that outside contracts currently place elsewhere.
The rocket’s stated 20-ton capacity is close to the Falcon 9’s roughly 25 tons to low Earth orbit. Payload capacity alone doesn’t settle which rocket is the better fit: launch cadence, mission availability and how many satellites can be deployed on a particular flight all matter. Blacklift’s planned ability to carry as many as five BlueBirds per launch could make it a closer match for AST SpaceMobile’s needs, provided the vehicle reaches operational service and performs as intended.
AST SpaceMobile founder, chairman and CEO Abel Avellan called Blacklift a way to expand the company’s addressable market and secure regular access to orbit. He said the rocket would support efforts to extend connectivity beyond terrestrial networks, including for AI-enabled services. That framing ties launch infrastructure to the company’s broader ambitions: more predictable access could support a larger satellite network, but it doesn’t by itself establish demand for every service the network might eventually carry.
There’s a near-term bridge while Blacklift is in development: AST SpaceMobile has contracts with other launch providers for more than 100 BlueBird satellites across 2027 and 2028. Those agreements give the company a path to continue deployments before its own rocket is expected to fly. They also show how much the current plan still depends on external providers during the period when Blacklift must move from development to flight readiness.
Firefly supplies the first engines
AST SpaceMobile won’t develop Blacklift’s propulsion system alone. Firefly Aerospace will provide engines and engineering services for the first three launches. Under a separate licensing agreement, AST SpaceMobile plans to manufacture the engines itself afterward, shifting more of the production work in-house once the initial flights are covered.
Miranda will power the booster, while Vira is slated for the upper stage. Neither engine has flown, so ground testing offers evidence about progress but can’t establish how the engines will perform in a complete launch vehicle. Miranda has completed 175 ground hot fires totaling more than 4,200 seconds, according to AST SpaceMobile. Firefly’s operational Alpha rocket uses different engines: Reaver in its booster and Lightning in its upper stage.
That distinction matters. Firefly’s existing launch experience may inform its engineering work, but the engines named for Blacklift aren’t the same ones already flying on Alpha. The available test record is a development milestone, not a substitute for flight history. This is more significant than it looks: propulsion is one part of the system, and a successful engine test doesn’t resolve the other challenges involved in building and operating a reusable rocket.
AST SpaceMobile president Scott Wisniewski said Miranda could help the company bypass the traditional five-to-10-year rocket development cycle. That’s an ambitious schedule claim, and it rests on how much work can be shortened through the engine arrangement and Firefly’s support. The agreement covering engine supply and services for the first three flights is valued at $500 million. The engine license cost about $800 million, split between cash and stock.
The two agreements point to a staged approach: Firefly supports the early launches, while AST SpaceMobile plans to take on engine manufacturing afterward. That could give the satellite operator greater control over a key part of the supply chain, though the stated plan leaves open how quickly in-house production can scale and how the company will manage the transition. If you’re working in this space, the practical question is whether the schedule, manufacturing plan and launch cadence can stay aligned.
A busier launch market ahead
Blacklift joins a growing slate of rockets aimed at large satellite deployments. Cowboy Space announced its Big Iron vehicle 10 days earlier, also targeting a first launch in 2028, for a planned constellation of 20,000 AI data centers. The parallel plans reflect interest in launch systems designed around large payloads and ambitious satellite networks. They don’t establish how many of these vehicles will reach service on schedule.
The launch market may look different by the time these vehicles are ready. SpaceX has said it plans to phase out Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy once Starship is operational, and has indicated that Starship launches will prioritize its own satellites. Elon Musk has discussed plans for 100,000 Starlink V3 satellites and one million Starmind AI data centers. Those plans could shape how much launch capacity is available to other operators, but their effect depends on how Starship develops and how SpaceX allocates its flights.
For AST SpaceMobile, this creates a planning problem with several moving parts: the availability of current launch providers, the timing of Blacklift, and the pace at which BlueBird satellites are ready to fly. The company’s contracted launches provide a bridge, while its own vehicle is meant to offer more control later. That said, a target date is not a launch record.
What Blacklift needs to prove
Blacklift’s significance will depend on execution. AST SpaceMobile has outlined the vehicle’s intended payload capacity, named its engines and described a path from Firefly-supported early flights to in-house engine manufacturing. The next test is whether those pieces can become a reliable launch system that carries satellites when the company needs them. A rocket can improve scheduling flexibility only after it’s ready to fly and can sustain the required operations.
Until then, outside launch contracts remain central to the company’s plan to keep BlueBird deployments on schedule. Blacklift could eventually make AST SpaceMobile less dependent on other providers, but the company’s immediate network ambitions still rely on launches it doesn’t control. Here’s the thing: the rocket’s value won’t be measured by its design capacity alone, but by whether it can deliver dependable access to orbit at the pace the satellite network requires. One milestone at a time.