ABL Space Systems: General Thread

[deltaV]

On the one hand ABL is not unusual in starting its corporate life with failures - most launch companies start with at least one launch failure and SpaceX started with three Falcon 1 launch failures before its first success. On the other hand the small launch market that ABL is competing in is pretty competitive these days (including Alpha, RFA One, Miura 5, Vega, and Nova) so ABL has to be better than average to survive.

[zubenelgenubi]

Lockheed gave a BIG launch contract to Firefly, and they are investors in ABL ... so it's not a good sign for the ABL company.

Doesn't mean LM won't use ABL when they have operational LV.

Yet to see small LV company fail because of lack of customers. VO, Astra, Vector have all gone bankrupt trying to get LV operational. VO had customers for LauncherOne just not money to see them through last failure. 

Has Astra filed for bankruptcy?  They've gone private, but I'm not sure about bankruptcy.

 - Ed Kyle

https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=44689.0
No, at least not yet.

[TrevorMonty]

Lockheed gave a BIG launch contract to Firefly, and they are investors in ABL ... so it's not a good sign for the ABL company.

Doesn't mean LM won't use ABL when they have operational LV.

Yet to see small LV company fail because of lack of customers. VO, Astra, Vector have all gone bankrupt trying to get LV operational. VO had customers for LauncherOne just not money to see them through last failure. 

Has Astra filed for bankruptcy?  They've gone private, but I'm not sure about bankruptcy.

 - Ed Kyle

May as well given value of shares before it went private.

[brussell]

Lockheed gave a BIG launch contract to Firefly, and they are investors in ABL ... so it's not a good sign for the ABL company.

Doesn't mean LM won't use ABL when they have operational LV.

Yet to see small LV company fail because of lack of customers. VO, Astra, Vector have all gone bankrupt trying to get LV operational. VO had customers for LauncherOne just not money to see them through last failure. 

Has Astra filed for bankruptcy?  They've gone private, but I'm not sure about bankruptcy.

 - Ed Kyle

May as well given value of shares before it went private.

But they haven't so... no.

[Daniels30]

ABL have nearly halved in sized starting today (August 30)
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/harry-o-hanley-27087382_abl-team-reduction-activity-7235303025525846016-wmlJ?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

[zubenelgenubi]

ABL have nearly halved in size starting today (August 30).

Source of proportion of employees laid off?

[ShinodaChan]

Some form of layoffs were a given considering ABL's situation. Doesn't make them any less unfortunate, but it was bound to happen eventually. Question is: do they have a viable path to a second flight, or is even this not enough?

[Kryten]

https://afresearchlab.com/technology/afrls-rocket-lab-past-present-and-future/

The goal of the ARMR [Affordable Reusable Modular Rocket] portfolio is to radically change the current space access engine design paradigm. We seek to reduce the development time for a new engine by 70% and reduce the development cost by 50%. The program leverage efforts started under 3GRB as well as USET. Under the Aerospike Rocket Integration and Suborbital Experiment (ARISE) AFRL, working in Public Private Partnerships with Invocon and ABL Space Systems, will fly the first ever modular aerospike engine. Each company has their own launch vehicle and chosen approach to implementing the ARMR architecture. ABL’s vehicle has been designated X-63 while Invocon’s is designated X-64. Follow-on efforts will continue to refine and validate this engine architecture.

Just seen this; undated, no later than mid-August given when a reference was added to it on Wikipedia. ABL bagged themselves an official X-plane number.

[JEF_300]

Perhaps, if we take these two new pieces of information together and choose to be overly optimistic, ABL's lay offs are just a signal the company is shifting in a new direction? Less focus of the LV, more on Air Force research work, a la Stratolaunch and Ursa Major?

[Asteroza]

Isn't pivoting to feeding off the military hypersonic feeding trough just a late stage newspace symptom though?

[gongora]

Isn't pivoting to feeding off the military hypersonic feeding trough just a late stage newspace symptom though?

Yeah, but it can be an effective way to get some cash to keep development going