Mentioned:
ASTS +6.95% SPCX +8.52%

AST SpaceMobile has a new ambition: building their own rocket.

What’s happening:

  • AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ: ASTS) has entered into a new deal with Firefly Aerospace (NASDAQ: FLY) worth more than $1.3B USD that includes a perpetual engine license and engine supply

Why it matters:

  • AST SpaceMobile has publicly stated that they want to use Firefly Aerospace’s Miranda engine to build their own rocket known as Blacklift to reduce their dependency on third-party launch providers

Going deeper:

  • Firefly Aerospace will give AST SpaceMobile a perpetual license to build their Miranda and Vira rocket engines, as well as 36 engines and three years of direct engineering support
  • AST SpaceMobile will pay Firefly Aerospace $400M USD in cash and issue between 10M and 14M common shares of equity in exchange for a perpetual license to manufacture Firefly Aerospace’s Miranda and Vira engines
  • SpaceX and AST SpaceMobile previously made waves when they successfully deployed three more AST SpaceMobile’s Block 2 BlueBird satellites into orbit through a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch

The fine print:

  • AST SpaceMobile’s Blacklift rocket isn't expected to begin launching BlueBird satellites for at least two years