Author Topic: ABL Space Systems: General Thread (Read 152220 times)

vaporcobra · « **Reply #200 on:** 02/14/2022 10:01 pm »

I mean... it's difficult to negatively spin having already qualified and shipped an RS1 booster, interstage, and fairing to the launch site. Only Firefly has made more progress with a new 1t-class rocket and Firefly has been about 1000x more communicative than ABL.

niwax · « **Reply #201 on:** 02/14/2022 10:32 pm »

Quote from: gongora on 02/14/2022 02:54 pm

Every startup says stuff like that.

Especially with closely related businesses as potential customers. Vector claimed hundreds of orders from other startups that shared executives, Virgin Orbit got most of their order book as a favor for an investment into OneWeb which was cancelled as soon as possible.

Don't these count orders as even remotely certain, and definitely not as an indicator for organic market demand.

TrevorMonty · « **Reply #202 on:** 02/14/2022 11:12 pm »

Quote from: niwax on 02/14/2022 10:32 pm

Quote from: gongora on 02/14/2022 02:54 pm
Every startup says stuff like that.

Especially with closely related businesses as potential customers. Vector claimed hundreds of orders from other startups that shared executives, Virgin Orbit got most of their order book as a favor for an investment into OneWeb which was cancelled as soon as possible.

Don't these count orders as even remotely certain, and definitely not as an indicator for organic market demand.

If a LV is delayed customers will go elsewhere. Hopefully not permanently.

Sent from my SM-G570Y using Tapatalk

ringsider · « **Reply #203 on:** 02/15/2022 03:20 am »

Quote from: vaporcobra on 02/14/2022 10:01 pm

I mean... it's difficult to negatively spin having already qualified and shipped an RS1 booster, interstage, and fairing to the launch site. Only Firefly has made more progress with a new 1t-class rocket and Firefly has been about 1000x more communicative than ABL.

But they only revealed all that, and the 9 x S1 engine tests, after the S2 failure.

Normally they are church mice.

The almost daily PR showing technical progress is a change of direction, and looks like a reaction.

toren · « **Reply #204 on:** 02/15/2022 05:03 am »

Quote from: ringsider on 02/15/2022 03:20 am

Quote from: vaporcobra on 02/14/2022 10:01 pm
I mean... it's difficult to negatively spin having already qualified and shipped an RS1 booster, interstage, and fairing to the launch site. Only Firefly has made more progress with a new 1t-class rocket and Firefly has been about 1000x more communicative than ABL.
But they only revealed all that, and the 9 x S1 engine tests, after the S2 failure.

Normally they are church mice.

The almost daily PR showing technical progress is a change of direction, and looks like a reaction.

S2 failure -> Schedule slip -> Need for more funding before previously anticipated milestone -> burst of hype to attract funder / pump up valuation

< /speculation>

PM3 · « **Reply #205 on:** 02/15/2022 05:37 am »

ABL has been secretive for years, while others (like Relativity) are nonstop churning out PR stuff. Now ABL publish their first promo video on Youtube, and people freak out. I don't get that. ABL ist just becoming normal and - as gongora wrote - does what everybody in the industry does: produce some show and make some promises to keep some naive investors and customers happy. While the first launch does what all first launches do: keep slipping to the right.

Those test are running horizontally. Now they had a cumbustion issue while testing vertically. Could that issue be related to the engine orientation?

JEF_300 · « **Reply #206 on:** 02/15/2022 06:42 am »

Quote from: ringsider on 02/15/2022 03:20 am

Quote from: vaporcobra on 02/14/2022 10:01 pm
I mean... it's difficult to negatively spin having already qualified and shipped an RS1 booster, interstage, and fairing to the launch site. Only Firefly has made more progress with a new 1t-class rocket and Firefly has been about 1000x more communicative than ABL.
But they only revealed all that, and the 9 x S1 engine tests, after the S2 failure.

Normally they are church mice.

The almost daily PR showing technical progress is a change of direction, and looks like a reaction.

Oh, it absolutely is. The fact that the information is coming as part of a pragmatic PR push doesn't change that it's all very good news though.

J-B · « **Reply #207 on:** 03/03/2022 07:41 pm »

https://twitter.com/LMSpace/status/1499482318662209541

su27k · « **Reply #208 on:** 03/23/2022 03:26 am »

Lockheed Martin to launch new satellite bus aimed at mid-size market

Quote from: SpaceNews

At about 1,700 kilograms including payload, the bus would compete in the mid-size satellite market which is the “sweet spot for us,” said Lightfoot. For its small satellites, Lockheed uses buses made by Terran Orbital’s Tyvak NanoSatellites, a company in which it has made a strategic investment.

“The LM400 would not compete with Tyvak,” he said.

The satellites will be launched by ABL Space Systems, a new launch company that has yet to fly its RS1 rocket. Lockheed Martin is a strategic investor in ABL and signed a long-term deal to launch dozens of missions on RS1 over the next decade.

ABL is also Lockheed’s partner in the United Kingdom where Lockheed is working to develop U.K. launch operations from Shetland Space Centre.

trimeta · « **Reply #209 on:** 03/23/2022 04:01 am »

1,700kg is considerably over RS1's capabilities, but that includes the putative payload. Presumably for this test launch, the bus will be flying on its own.

Daniels30 · « **Reply #210 on:** 03/28/2022 07:37 pm »

"We rolled Stage 1 out of the hangar and went vertical on the pad last week. The vehicle is undergoing a variety of checkouts, which will ultimately culminate in a staticfire to vet the stage's readiness for flight. We still have work ahead of us, but a huge congratulations to every member of our team for getting the stage vertical on the pad!" - Harry O'Hanley

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6914255084986003457/

jstrotha0975 · « **Reply #211 on:** 03/28/2022 09:49 pm »

Is ABL impacted b the Ukraine war in any way?

trimeta · « **Reply #212 on:** 03/28/2022 09:56 pm »

Quote from: jstrotha0975 on 03/28/2022 09:49 pm

Is ABL impacted b the Ukraine war in any way?

Shouldn't be, everything they do is in-house. You may be thinking of RFA (also a three-letter-acronym), which had some dealings with Ukrainian rocket manufacturer Yuzhmash, but my understanding is they bought a turbopump from Yuzhmash to base their own in-house designs off of, and so they too are no longer dependent on outside parts.

Rocket Rancher · « **Reply #213 on:** 03/30/2022 12:20 am »

It's got that Mercury-Redstone look, intentional?

HMXHMX · « **Reply #214 on:** 03/31/2022 02:48 am »

Quote from: Rocket Rancher on 03/30/2022 12:20 am

It's got that Mercury-Redstone look, intentional?

It is more like a Thor from 1968.

Robotbeat · « **Reply #215 on:** 03/31/2022 04:48 am »

When is the launch? Roughly.

vaporcobra · « **Reply #216 on:** 03/31/2022 05:55 am »

Quote from: Robotbeat on 03/31/2022 04:48 am

When is the launch? Roughly.

Maybe late May, probably NET June. Still a lot of uncertainty until S1 completes testing and a new S2 is fixed and qualified.

PM3 · « **Reply #217 on:** 03/31/2022 07:52 am »

Quote from: Robotbeat on 03/31/2022 04:48 am

When is the launch? Roughly.

Launch always is in 3-6 month, since fall 2020. ABL time is worse than Elon time.

vaporcobra · « **Reply #218 on:** 03/31/2022 08:06 am »

Quote from: PM3 on 03/31/2022 07:52 am

Quote from: Robotbeat on 03/31/2022 04:48 am
When is the launch? Roughly.

Launch always is in 3-6 month, since fall 2020. ABL time is worse than Elon time.

Every new rocket development is more or less the same in that regard.

PM3 · « **Reply #219 on:** 03/31/2022 01:18 pm »

Quote from: vaporcobra on 03/31/2022 08:06 am

Quote from: PM3 on 03/31/2022 07:52 am
Launch always is in 3-6 month, since fall 2020. ABL time is worse than Elon time.

Every new rocket development is more or less the same in that regard.

I am not aware of a single other company that is always launching next quarter. That's unique to ABL.