与 SpaceX 竞争的卫星公司 SpaceMobile Inc. 宣布，正在研制自家火箭，并将采用 Firefly Aerospace Inc. 的发动机。
SpaceMobile Inc., a satellite company that competes against SpaceX, announced that it is building its own rocket that will be powered by engines from Firefly Aerospace Inc.
两家公司周五宣布，Firefly 将向 AST 提供 36 枚火箭发动机，初步交易金额达 13 亿美元。
Firefly will provide 36 rocket engines to AST, in an initial deal worth $1.3 billion, the companies announced Friday.
据 AST 介绍，这款名为 “Blacklift” 的新火箭设计为可重复使用，预计 2028 年起可执行发射任务。完工后，Blacklift 单次发射可搭载多达五颗 AST 的 BlueBird 卫星。
The new rocket, called Blacklift, is designed to be reusable and will be ready for launches starting in 2028, according to AST. When complete, Blacklift will be capable of launching up to five of AST’s BlueBird satellites on one flight, the company said.
AST 的 BlueBird 卫星旨在直接连接普通智能手机，从太空提供全球连接服务，功能类似 SpaceX 的星链移动卫星。
AST’s BlueBird satellites are designed to connect to everyday smartphones from space, providing global connectivity similar to SpaceX’s Starlink mobile satellites.
拥有自家火箭将赋予 AST 一项此前相较于 SpaceX 所缺乏的关键能力。埃隆·马斯克旗下公司利用 “猎鹰 9” 机队快速部署星链卫星网络，已使在轨卫星数量超过 1.1 万颗。
Having its own rocket would provide a significant capability that AST has lacked compared to SpaceX. Elon Musk’s company has used its Falcon 9 fleet to rapidly launch its Starlink satellite network, growing the system to more than 11,000 satellites in orbit.
AST 此前曾利用 SpaceX 火箭和印度航天机构火箭发射了少量 BlueBird 卫星，并与杰夫·贝佐斯支持的 Blue Origin LLC 签署合同，计划使用 “新格伦” 火箭发射。然而，AST 于 4 月搭乘 “新格伦” 实施的一次发射任务将有效载荷送入了错误轨道。
AST has launched a handful of its BlueBird satellites on rockets from SpaceX and India’s space agency and has signed contracts to launch on Jeff Bezos-backed Blue Origin LLC’s New Glenn rocket. However, an AST launch on New Glenn in April put its payload in the wrong orbit.
总部位于得克萨斯州米德兰的 AST，其股价在周四收盘时较年初下跌近 60%。
Midland, Texas-based AST’s shares at close of trading on Thursday had dropped nearly 60% this year.
根据与 AST 的新协议，Firefly 将提供 27 枚目前正在研发、用于自家 “Eclipse” 火箭的 Miranda 发动机，以及 9 枚同样用于 “Eclipse”、可在太空真空环境下工作的 Vira 发动机。Firefly 的 “Eclipse” 火箭尚未首飞，计划于 2027 年前实施首飞。
As part of the new agreement with AST, Firefly will provide 27 of its Miranda engines, currently under development to power Firefly’s own new rocket called Eclipse. Firefly will also provide nine Vira engines, also tapped for Eclipse, that are designed to work in the vacuum of space. Firefly’s Eclipse rocket has yet to debut, though it is slated to fly by 2027.
“米兰达发动机将使我们能够跳过传统的五到十年开发周期，从而构建‘黑升’（Blacklift）。”AST SpaceMobile总裁斯科特·威斯尼耶夫斯基在一份声明中表示。“凭借这种内部研发能力，我们将能够更好地服务我们的商业和政府客户，覆盖一个超越直连设备的更广阔的总可触达市场。”
“The Miranda engine will allow us to leapfrog the traditional five-to-ten-year development cycle as we build Blacklift,” Scott Wisniewski, president of AST SpaceMobile, said in a statement. “With this in-house capability, we will be able to better serve our commercial and government customers, across an expanded total addressable market beyond direct-to-device.”