WASHINGTON — ABL Space Systems, a California-based launch startup that has yet to achieve orbit, received a $15 million task order from the U.S. Space Force to exhibit it could actually launch a payload on short notice from either one among the corporate’s two launch pads.
The contract, announced Sept. 18, is an element of a $60 million agreement announced in March often known as a strategic funding increase, or STRATFI. ABL’s agreement includes $30 million in government funding and $30 million in matching funds from the corporate’s investors. The $15 million contract covers one-half of the federal government’s portion of the contract.
ABL developed a small launch vehicle called RS1 able to placing as much as 1,350 kilograms into low Earth orbit. It attempted its first launch Jan. 10 from Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska on Kodiak Island however the mission failed.
The corporate recently secured a launch pad at Space Launch Complex 15 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.
ABL’s next launch date TBD
The timing for the subsequent launch attempt has not been announced. ABL President Dan Piemont told Sept. 18 the corporate is “wrapping up our return to flight workflows and can establish a Flight 2 launch date within the near future.”
The responsive mission for the Space Force is projected to happen inside the subsequent two years, Piemont said.
The corporate views the U.S. military as a key customer that might profit from the corporate’s mobile infrastructure. The RS1 vehicle uses a containerized ground system that enables it to launch from sites with minimal fixed infrastructure.
The Space Force has experimented with other responsive launch options. Northrop Grumman launched a mission on 21-day notice in 2021 and most recently Firefly Aerospace executed one inside a number of days.
“The Space Force is committed to growing tactically responsive space capabilities, including launch, space, and ground segments, to satisfy the needs of combatant commanders,” said Lt. Col. Justin Beltz, chief of the Small Launch and Targets Division on the U.S. Space Systems Command.
Piemont said the Space Force is demonstrating capabilities to integrate spacecraft inside days and launch inside hours. “ABL’s goal is to expand this capability to multiple sites across the globe,” he said. “Our task under this contract is to take care of readiness at two separate deployed launch sites and receive an order from the Space Force to launch RS1 at either one among them.”