“Look around you,” Piedmont wrote. “A U.S. rocket flies every few days with perfect success. This is revolutionary. Certain market segments still need more providers, but the opportunities are decreasing. Orbital Successful undertakings such as scaling a launch program require deep motivation from many stakeholders about their mission and potential impact, as the launch market matures. has faded, and our path to making a significant contribution as a commercial launch company has narrowed significantly.”
For the past five years or so, three American companies have been competing to develop rockets in the one-ton class in terms of lift capacity. ABL has been competing alongside Relativity Space and Firefly to bring rockets to market. ABL never caught on. In March 2023, Relativity reached space on the Terran 1 rocket, but a problem with the second stage prevented it from reaching orbit. Within weeks, Relativity announced that it would shift its focus to a medium-lift rocket, the Terran R. Since then, the California-based launch company has made progress, but rumors persist that it is facing financial difficulties.
Of the three, only Firefly has been successful. The company’s Alpha rockets have reached orbit multiple times, and just this week Firefly announced it had closed a $175 million Series D funding round, valuing it at more than $2 billion. The one ton rocket war is over and Firefly has won.
Emphasis on defense
Just as Relativity has pivoted away from this class of rockets, ABL will now shift its focus in a more radical direction.
US defense spending on missile production and defense has skyrocketed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and ABL will now aim to tap into this potentially lucrative market.
“We have decided to focus on national defense, specifically missile defense technology,” Piedmont said. “We will be sharing more details about our roadmap and momentum in this area soon. For now, we believe there is considerable opportunity to leverage the RS1, GS0, E2 engines and the remaining technologies we have developed to date.” Suffice it to say, it enables new types of research activities in missile defense technology. ”
