Investing.com -- Firefly Aerospace shares surged 13% Friday after the company announced a three-year rocket engine agreement worth more than $1.3 billion with AST SpaceMobile, whose shares gained 5%.
The agreement covers the delivery of 36 rocket engines, licensing of the engines' intellectual property, and engineering support for AST SpaceMobile's planned heavy-lift rocket. Firefly will supply 27 Miranda engines and nine vacuum-variant Vira engines for AST SpaceMobile's first three rockets, while granting the company a license to manufacture the engines.
Under the terms of the deal, AST SpaceMobile will pay Firefly more than $1.3 billion in a combination of cash and shares of AST Class A common stock. The stock consideration will be subject to various lock-up periods.
Firefly said the agreement will provide additional capital to accelerate production of its existing launch vehicles and advance its broader technology roadmap. The funding will support expanded hiring, procurement of long-lead materials, equipment purchases, and infrastructure investments, including multiple new test bays at its Briggs, Texas, facility.
Firefly said its Miranda engine has completed more than 175 hot-fire tests totaling over 4,200 seconds. Testing has included a flight-like demonstration at 110% of the engine's rated performance, with the 230,000-pound-thrust engine running for 20 seconds beyond its nominal 206-second flight duration.
Both Miranda and Vira incorporate flight-proven technologies scaled from Firefly's Reaver and Lightning rocket engines.
The two Texas-based companies have complementary business portfolios, with Firefly retaining full ownership of its engine intellectual property and continuing to serve the broader government and commercial launch markets.
Firefly will discuss the agreement during its third-quarter 2026 earnings call, scheduled for 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday, November 10.
Original Article
Firefly Aerospace stock surges 13% on $1.3 billion engine deal
5 European airlines upgraded at Barclays on lower fuel prices
