Challenge SpaceX (SPCX.US)! AST SpaceMobile (ASTS.US) invests $1.3 billion to develop a self-developed reusable rocket to fly for the first time in 2028

The Zhitong Finance App learned that SpaceX (SPCX.US) competitor and satellite communications company AST SpaceMobile (ASTS.US) announced on Friday that it will develop a reusable launch vehicle called “Blacklift” and reach an engine supply agreement with space company Firefly Aerospace (FLY.US), with an initial contract value of 1.3 billion US dollars. The move is aimed at helping AST SpaceMobile establish autonomous satellite launch capabilities, reduce reliance on external rocket suppliers, and thereby accelerate the deployment of its global satellite communication network.

According to the agreement announced by the two companies on Friday, Firefly Aerospace will supply a total of 36 rocket engines to AST SpaceMobile to support the development of the Blacklift rocket.

AST SpaceMobile said that Blacklift plans to begin launch missions in 2028. After completion, it will have the ability to launch up to five BlueBird satellites at a time, and will use a reusable design to improve the efficiency of future satellite deployments.

Bluebird is the core device of the satellite communication network currently being built by AST SpaceMobile. Its goal is to enable ordinary smartphones to directly connect to satellites in space without special terminals to achieve wider mobile communication coverage. This business model competes with SpaceX's Starlink (Starlink) mobile phone direct-connect satellite business.

For AST SpaceMobile, self-developed launch vehicles means that the company is expected to fill an important capability gap with SpaceX.

SpaceX has long relied on its own Falcon 9 (Falcon 9) rocket to carry out high-frequency launch missions, rapidly expanding the size of the Starlink satellite network. At present, Starlink has more than 11,000 satellites in orbit, giving it a significant advantage in terms of satellite deployment speed and network coverage.

In contrast, AST SpaceMobile has only launched a small number of Bluebird satellites so far, mainly relying on rocket launch services provided by SpaceX and the Indian Space Agency. In addition, the company also signed an agreement with Blue Origin (Blue Origin), supported by Amazon (AMZN.US) founder Jeff Bezos, to launch a satellite using the latter's New Glenn (New Glenn) rocket.

However, relying on external launch services also exposes AST SpaceMobile to certain execution risks. In April of this year, when carrying out the AST SpaceMobile satellite launch mission, the new Glen rocket of blue origin failed to launch the payload into the scheduled orbit, which affected the relevant deployment plans.

Through the development of Blacklift, AST SpaceMobile hopes to be able to arrange satellite launch missions more autonomously in the future, improve the controllability of launch plans, and reduce dependence on third-party launch vehicles.

Under the agreement, Firefly Aerospace will supply 27 Miranda engines and 9 Vira engines. Among them, the Miranda engine is still in the development stage and was originally planned to be used in the new Eclipse rocket being developed by Firefly. The Vira engine is specially designed to operate in a vacuum environment in space, and will also be used in Eclipse rockets.

Notably, Firefly's Eclipse rocket has yet to complete its first flight and is currently planning to launch as early as 2027. This means that AST SpaceMobile's Blacklift project will still rely on engine technology that has not been verified by actual flight, and there is still uncertainty about future development and launch progress.

Scott Wisniewski, president of AST SpaceMobile, said in a statement: “The Miranda engine will help us accelerate the construction of the Blacklift rocket beyond the traditional five-to-ten-year development cycle.” He further pointed out that with internal launch capabilities, the company will be able to better serve commercial and government customers and expand business opportunities to a wider range of markets other than mobile phones directly connected to satellite communications.

The investment also comes at a time when AST SpaceMobile's stock price is under pressure. By the close of trading on Thursday, the company's stock price had dropped nearly 60% since this year.

As competition in the satellite communications industry intensifies, launch capability has become an important factor in determining the speed of satellite network construction and scale of operation. SpaceX has established a significant advantage with mature reusable rocket technology, and AST SpaceMobile's announcement to develop an autonomous launch vehicle indicates that it is trying to expand further from a satellite communication service provider to a space company with autonomous launch capabilities.

However, Blacklift is still about two years away from the planned launch in 2028, and key aspects such as engine development, rocket testing, and first launch have yet to be completed. For investors, whether the project can proceed on schedule and whether the efficiency of satellite deployment can be effectively improved in the future will be an important factor in measuring the long-term value of this $1.3 billion cooperation agreement.