ABL Space for the launch of the first orbital rocket from Great Britain
“The ABL system is relatively easy, quick, and inexpensive to deploy”
Lockheed Martin has chosen ABL Space Systems from the USA to launch the first orbital rocket from Great Britain United Kingdom – a mission which is expected to take place from Scotland in 2022.
The launch is part of an agreement between the UK government and Lockheed to promote a commercial small satellite launch industry in the country. Rockets have never been launched from the UK on the ground, but now the government is aiming to become both a European launch center and a small satellite manufacturer.
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In choosing ABL Space, Lockheed selected a company that has not yet launched a rocket has, although its RS1 vehicle is expected to debut in the second quarter of this year. Lockheed is an investor in El Segundo, Calif. Based ABL Space and believes it is on the right track to be successful.
“The ABL System Deployment is relatively easy, quick, and inexpensive. The fantastic performance is a key feature for many of our future customers, “said Randy DeRosa, Lockheed Martin’s program manager for the company’s UK Pathfinder Launch program.
ABL is developing a ship-and-fire capability for its RS1 missile, which is expected will have a lifting capacity of 1.2 tons in low-earth orbit, the goal is to put the rocket in a couple of cargo containers, send it to a launch site, assemble it, and put it into orbit. The company’s base price to go to market is $ 12 million.
Although ABL Space has operated largely under the radar for the past three years, it appears to be well-capitalized and set up well. For example, last summer, ABL announced that it had received two US Air Force contracts valued at $ 44.5 million and new private funding of $ 49 million. An ABL official said the launch from the UK was roughly the fifth mission in its current manifesto and ABL hopes to establish a regular launch cadence from the Shetland Space Center, which will better serve the UK satellite market.
The UK Space Agency announced its July 2018 domestic start-up initiative known. At that time, it awarded $ 31 million to Lockheed Martin for the development and demonstration of a vertical launch site in Sutherland, Scotland. $ 7 million was granted to a UK-based company, Orbex, which is developing its own rocket. At the time, it was believed that Lockheed would also choose a startup company when Orbex would launch from its launch in Sutherland in the Scottish Highlands.
However, last fall, Lockheed said it was moving to another location in Scotland, the Shetland Space Center in the Shetland Islands, in the northernmost part of the country that would pull. Explaining the move, Lockheed said it ended up having different technical requirements for the launch than Orbex. British officials approved the move at the time, saying it would be beneficial to have two complementary vertical launch sites in the UK (Orbex says it is) Now, Lockheed and ABL are locked in at the Shetland site and preparing for a launch next year. Orbital maneuvering vehicle, built by MOOG, that is capable of transporting and deploying up to six 6U CubeSats. Two of the CubeSats launched by the maneuvering vehicle will be Lockheed Martin technology demonstrators.
Arstechnica / TechConflict.Com