On Friday, ABL Space Systems announced
design updates to its RS1 launch vehicle, an increase in payload
capacity, and a decrease in price.
The upgraded RS1 has a larger six-foot
diameter and is powered by a new family of gas generator engines, E1
and E2. The vehicle's design capacity is 1,200 kilograms to
200-kilometer, low inclination orbit, or 875 kg to 500-km
sun-synchronous orbit. RS1 is priced at $12 million per
launch, or as low as $10,000 per kilogram.
"In both engineering and
manufacturing, small launch vehicles are fundamentally simpler than
large launch vehicles, and there are many opportunities for
efficiency gains," said ABL CEO Harry O'Hanley.
Founded in 2017, ABL recently completed
its first development vehicle and conducted a successful tanking
test.
ABL is planning an RS1 stage test in
the second half of 2019, with a target first launch in 2020.
"The global launch vehicle market
is still missing a truly low-cost option in the 500-1,500 kg capacity
range," said ABL CFO Dan Piemont. "We're confident RS1
fills an important role in the market for a variety of mission
profiles, including bulk deployment of cubesats, deployment of three
to five larger, more capable satellites, or dedicated launch of
satellites with aggressive mission requirements."
ABL Space Systems was founded by former
SpaceX engineering leaders in 2017 to develop low-cost launch
vehicles for the small satellite industry. The company is headquartered in El
Segundo, Calif., where it has 30,000 square feet of facilities for
research, development, and production. ABL is a privately-owned
corporation backed by a premier group of private equity investors.
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