AST SpaceMobile Will Use Firefly in Bold Move to Build Its Starlink Competitor

Firefly has rocket and rocket engine expertise that it will supply to AST SpaceMobile as the latter rushes to build its space-based communications network. (Courtesy Firefly)

Key Points

AST SpaceMobile plans to build its own reusable rocket, named Backlift, to carry 20 tons to orbit.
Firefly Aerospace will supply the engines for the Backlift rocket, sending Firefly shares up sharply on Friday.
AST SpaceMobile is building a space-based communications network to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink.

AST SpaceMobile has come up with an interesting solution to limited space launch capacity: It’s going to build its own reusable rocket.

That has shares of its new rocket engine partner, Firefly Aerospace , rising sharply Friday.

The rocket, named Backlift, will carry 20 tons to orbit. That makes it roughly the same size as a SpaceX Falcon 9. AST will design and build the rocket. Firefly will supply the engines.

“The Blacklift rocket is the springboard to significantly expand our total addressable market, providing AST SpaceMobile with regular unconstrained access to orbit and providing for [the] most favorable owners’ economics in the industry,” said AST CEO Abel Avellan in a news release.

AST is building a space-based communications network to deliver broadband-speed data and eliminate dead zones for mobile wireless companies. Reaching space has been a hassle, however. Earlier in 2026, a Blue Origin explosion set back AST’s development plans.

That is one factor that has hurt shares. Before the explosion, AST stock was north of $130 a share. It closed on Thursday at $30.20. Shares rose 1.4% on Friday while the S&P 500 was up 1%.

Firefly stock was soaring. Shares jumped 17% in Friday trading to $17.73. Entering the day, Firefly stock was down about 75% from its 52-week high reached in May, weeks before SpaceX’s initial public offering.

Hype around the SpaceX IPO has helped shares of many space-related companies.

“This is a bold transformational deal for Firefly, for AST SpaceMobile, and for the space industry,” said Firefly CEO Jason Kim in a press release. “When a company sets out to build its own rocket, the engine is the hardest, highest-stakes decision they make, and AST SpaceMobile has chosen to partner with Firefly for its most powerful rocket engines.”

To be sure, it is good news for Firefly—and for the space industry. There is a lot of business to do if you can reach orbit. SpaceX’s Starlink space-based broadband network has more than 11,000 satellites in orbit serving more than 13 million customers in more than 170 countries.

That’s part of the business that AST and its mobile wireless partners are chasing.

The AST decision is impacting other space stocks, too. Rocket Lab stock was up 7.3%, and Intuitive Machines stock gained 10%.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@barrons.com.

参与讨论