ABL Space Systems Company on Monday evening said it has received a strategic investment from Lockheed Martin
[LMT] with the financing going toward ongoing development and testing of ABL’s RS1 rocket system.
The value of the investment wasn’t disclosed.
ABL, based in California, said it is planning an integrated stage test in the second half of 2019, leading toward the first launch of RS1 in 2020.
The RS1 is being developed to provide a low-cost solution for quick access to space for small payloads.
The investment was made by Lockheed Martin’s Ventures unit, which provides funding in startups and other disruptive companies in a number of areas including space technologies, cyber security, autonomous systems and robotics, undersea technologies, artificial intelligence and machine learning, data analytics, and more.
“The U.S. government is increasingly interested in responsive small launch vehicles and the distinct capabilities they offer,” ABL CEO Harry O’Hanley said in a statement. “Lockheed Martin Space has been providing successfully end-to-end solutions to the government for decades and its support offers an excellent opportunity for us to deliver ABL products at scale.”
Rick Ambrose, who heads Lockheed Martin Space, said in a statement that “space has become a contested environment,” adding that, “We recognize the growing importance of on-demand and flexible launch options as part of a suite of solutions necessary to counter this and other growing challenges.”
ABL was founded in 2017 by former engineers of SpaceX, completed its first development vehicle in 2018, and more recently successfully completed tests of the E2 bipropellant rocket engine. The company recently announced the RS1 will have an improved 1,200-kilogram payload capacity and price of $12 million.