ABL Space Systems is an American

private company A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...

, based in El Segundo, California, undertaking

launch vehicle A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload ( spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pads, supported by a launch control center and ...

and launch systems technology development using

CNC Numerical control (also computer numerical control, and commonly called CNC) is the automated control of machining tools (such as drills, lathes, mills, grinders, routers and 3D printers) by means of a computer. A CNC machine processes a p ...

and

3D printing 3D printing or additive manufacturing is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer co ...

and minimized launch operations. The company manufactures its components in the United States. Harry O'Hanley is the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

(CEO) and Dan Piemont is the chief financial officer (CFO) of ABL Space Systems.

History

ABL Space Systems was founded in 2017 by Harry O'Hanley and Dan Piemont, former SpaceX and

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...

employees. Their RS-1 rocket has two stages. It offers a maximum capacity of to

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never mor ...

(LEO). In 2018, ABL Space Systems signed a lease with Camden County, Georgia, for future operations in Spaceport Camden. In 2019, the company signed with Spaceport America in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

to locate some ABL testing operations and facilities there. As of October 2022, the company makes no mention of this location on their facility list.

Testing

In 2019, ABL Space conducted testing of the E2 rocket engine at the company's test facilities at Spaceport America, New Mexico, which "provided the perfect location and support staff for us to test the E2 rocket engine". The test was considered a success. In early 2020, the

Air Force Research Laboratory The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is a scientific research organization operated by the United States Air Force Materiel Command dedicated to leading the discovery, development, and integration of aerospace warfighting technologies, pl ...

(AFRL) joined with ABL Space Systems to test and develop rocket-propulsion components. In October 2020, the second stage with E2 engine was tested at Edwards Air Force Base. On 19 January 2022, an anomaly during testing at

Mojave Air and Space Port The Mojave Air and Space Port at Rutan Field is in Mojave, California, United States, at an elevation of . It is the first facility to be licensed in the United States for horizontal launches of reusable spacecraft, being certified as a s ...

resulted in the destruction of the second stage of the RS1 rocket. On 27 January, the source of the anomaly was publicly identified by ABL's CEO Harry O'Hanley as being one of the second stage's E2 Vacuum engine's

turbopump A turbopump is a propellant pump with two main components: a rotodynamic pump and a driving gas turbine, usually both mounted on the same shaft, or sometimes geared together. They were initially developed in Germany in the early 1940s. The purpo ...

s suffering a hard start, which led to a "substantial fire on the aft end of the vehicle, resulting in a complete failure about 20 seconds later". After three earlier attempts to launch their RS1 rocket in December 2022, ABL shifted the launch attempt to January 2023. The maiden flight on January 10, 2023, failed.

Planned launches sites

St. Marys, Georgia – launch site

In 2018, ABL contracted with the city of St. Marys, Georgia, in Camden County to use the former St. Marys Airport (

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

LID: 4J6) as a launch site. The former airport is about from the East Coast at

Cumberland Island, Georgia Cumberland Island, in the southeastern United States, is the largest of the Sea Islands of Georgia. The long-staple Sea Island cotton was first grown here by a local family, the Millers, who helped Eli Whitney develop the cotton gin. With its u ...

, and would be part of the Spaceport Camden range.

Pacific Spaceport Complex

The first RS1 flight was planned for 2022 from the Pacific Spaceport Complex on

Kodiak Island Kodiak Island ( Alutiiq: ''Qikertaq''), is a large island on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, separated from the Alaska mainland by the Shelikof Strait. The largest island in the Kodiak Archipelago, Kodiak Island is the second la ...

, but the launch attempt failed with no rocket actually launched. After two additional launch attempt failures (no rockets launched), the first launch occurred on January 10, 2023. The maiden flight also failed and did not reach orbit.

Cape Canaveral

On 1 November 2021,

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

announced that the first two prototype satellites of the Kuiper constellation, KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2, would be launched using RS1 in the fourth quarter of 2022 from Launch Complex 48 at the Kennedy Space Center. Amazon subsequently shifted these satellites to

Vulcan Centaur Vulcan Centaur is a two-stage-to-orbit, heavy-lift launch vehicle that is under development by the United Launch Alliance (ULA) since 2014 with an initial flight expected in early 2023. It is principally designed to meet launch demands for th ...

SaxaVord Spaceport

On 7 February 2021, Lockheed Martin and the United Kingdom announced a contract with ABL to launch the UK Pathfinder mission (6

CubeSat A CubeSat is a class of miniaturized satellite based around a form factor consisting of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit, and often use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for their electronics and structure. CubeSats ...

s) in 2022, from the Shetland Space Centre on the island of

Unst Unst (; sco, Unst; nrn, Ønst) is one of the North Isles of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. It is the northernmost of the inhabited British Isles and is the third-largest island in Shetland after Mainland and Yell. It has an area of . Unst ...

, Scotland. As of June 2022, the UK Pathfinder launch is scheduled to take place in early 2023.

Launches

RS1 rocket

Both stages are powered by ABL's E2 rocket engine, with nine in the first stage, and one in the second stage. They are powered by

RP-1 RP-1 (alternatively, Rocket Propellant-1 or Refined Petroleum-1) is a highly refined form of kerosene outwardly similar to jet fuel, used as rocket fuel. RP-1 provides a lower specific impulse than liquid hydrogen (LH2), but is cheaper, is s ...

kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...

and

liquid oxygen Liquid oxygen—abbreviated LOx, LOX or Lox in the aerospace, submarine and gas industries—is the liquid form of molecular oxygen. It was used as the oxidizer in the first liquid-fueled rocket invented in 1926 by Robert H. Goddard, an app ...

(LOX) as the

oxidizer An oxidizing agent (also known as an oxidant, oxidizer, electron recipient, or electron acceptor) is a substance in a redox chemical reaction that gains or " accepts"/"receives" an electron from a (called the , , or ). In other words, an oxid ...

as propellants. The containerized launch system and rocket can be deployed to and launched from a suitably flat site, the main requirements being access for trucks capable of carrying up to -long ISO containers (for the RS-1 first stage), and a flat concrete pad x . ABL Space Systems was planning the first orbital launch of its RS1 rocket in 2022. The firm received contracts worth US$44.5 million from the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

, as well as private funding equaling US$49 million. According to Dan Piemont, the US$44.5 million Air Force contracts include a one-year deal from the tech incubator AFWERX to demonstrate launch technology and an agreement with

Space and Missile Systems Center Space Systems Command (SSC) is the United States Space Force's space development, acquisition, launch, and logistics field command. It is headquartered at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California and manages the United States' space launch ...

's Space Enterprise Consortium to conduct three demonstrations of a RS1 vehicle variant and deployable ground infrastructure in 2022. The RS1 is capable of carrying a payload of to

. It is tall. Launches are planned to be sold for US$12 million per flight. The maiden flight on January 10, 2023, failed.

Previous design

In 2019, RS-1 was planned to have three E1 engines, each producing of thrust to power the rocket's first stage. A single E2 engine, with of thrust, was planned for the rocket's second stage. Both engines would use liquid oxygen and RP-1 propellants. The first development build of the vehicle has been completed.

References

External links

*
RS-1 rocket details

launch system details
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