An RS1 rocket impulse undergoes acceptance testing.
ABL Space
Rocket builder ABL Space signed a long-term agreement for several launches with Lockheed Martin, agreeing to provide the defense giant with up to 58 rockets by the end of the decade.
Lockheed Martin will buy up to 26 ABL RS1 rockets through 2025, with an option for up to 32 additional launches through 2029, ABL announced Monday.
“Having this secured access to space will accelerate our ability to demonstrate the spacecraft and payload technologies we are developing to meet the future mission needs of our customers,” said Rick Ambrose, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space, in a press release.
ABL’s RS1 rocket fits into the center of the launch market, between Rocket Lab’s small Electron and SpaceX’s large Falcon 9 vehicle. The RS1 is nearly 90 feet high and is designed to launch up to 1,350 kg (almost 1½ tons) of payload into low Earth orbit.
Lockheed Martin’s venture arm is one of ABL’s first investors, with the company raising so far about $ 220 million in private equity, most of which came in a round of T. Rowe Price and Fidelity Management last month with a valuation of $ 1.3 billion.
ABL declined to comment on the financial terms of the contract. Based on ABL’s $ 12 million price tag for an RS1 rocket, the deal with Lockheed Martin is estimated to be worth nearly $ 700 million in eight years, assuming the maximum number of launches.
A second stage RS1 fully integrated into the launch of tests at the Edwards Air Force Base in 2020.
ABL Space
It should be noted that since ABL rockets use a mobile ground system called GS0 that can be packaged in a number of transport containers, Lockheed Martin can use various launch facilities around the world, including of the United States Space Force at Vandenberg in California and Cape Canaveral in Florida.
Although the defense giant did not specify what missions it plans to launch with ABL rockets, Lockheed Martin previously announced in February that it had selected ABL to launch a mission from Scotland in 2022. In addition, Lockheed Martin last month it signed a strategic partnership with the launch of the Omnispace satellite, with the latter company planning to launch a constellation of satellites to build a 5G communications network in space.
The big contract represents a coup for ABL in the mid-range segment of the launch market, where the company competes with Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit, which came into orbit a few months ago.
Other competitors in this field include Relativity Space and Firefly Aerospace, which are set to launch for the first time later this year. Meanwhile, Rocket Lab is developing a medium-range rocket called Neutron that it hopes to launch in 2024.
ABL continues to work for its first RS1 launch from Vandenberg.
While ABL hoped to be ready to launch as early as March, President Dan Piemont said the company now aims to “prepare the flight for June.” Recently, the rocket builder completed acceptance tests for the first RS1 fuel tank, but Piedmont said ABL expects the necessary regulatory approvals at the launch site to delay its first launch attempt until the third quarter of this year. year.