LA Hard Tech Spotlight: ABL Space Systems
LA Hard Tech Spotlight: ABL Space Systems
Transportable, cost-effective rockets and launch capabilities
Nothing brings a hardware company to life like seeing the factories in person, and nothing is quite as awe-inspiring as a rocket factory. The scale of the operation transports you into scenes from your favorite science fiction. The minutiae of the manufacturing processes, from the sheet metal forming to the custom tube bending to the precise tension at each pipe connection, ground you in the reality of just how hard rocket science can be.
Needless to say, we were pumped when Co-Founder and President Dan Piemont from ABL Space Systems offered to show us around their factory in El Segundo. Besides a deep appreciation for how much ingenuity has gone into the business since its founding in 2017, we came away with a renewed sense of the defensibility of rocket launch companies. In Dan’s words, “We’re not selling a product or a service. We’re building a program.”
It’s obvious when you see it. One could not walk out of ABL with all their designs and compete right away. Programs are built day by day. Knowledge is created through iteration and testing. You simply cannot shortcut this. Luckily, for the space economy, Dan and his co-founder Harry O’Hanley have been building this way for a long time.
Introducing ABL Space Systems
CEO & Key People: Harry O’Hanley, Dan Piemont
Founded: 2017
El Segundo, CA
Designer and manufacturer of orbital launch vehicles and deployable ground systems that enable responsive launch capabilities delivered in a shipping container.
ABL Space Systems is building America’s next great launch company, with radical new perspectives on flexible, transportable, and cost-effective rockets and launch infrastructure. Today, there are only four launch sites in America that are actively and regularly capable of servicing orbital launches: Vandenberg, Kodiak, Wallops, and Cape Canaveral. This poses a unique strategic vulnerability to national security and access to space.
Relying on a few fixed launch locations presents a threat. Disruptive events like natural disasters, targeted cyberattacks, or power grid sabotage at any one launch site have the ability to materially handicap our ability to access space.
It’s not just an issue of national security. The centralization of launch capabilities creates logistical bottlenecks. Dependence on specific geographic locations—which each have their own pros and cons—constrains launch scheduling. Delayed timelines and increased costs are habitual.
Environmental and regulatory constraints exacerbate this problem, impacting our ability to rapidly deploy essential space assets. In an era where space systems are vital to national security, economic prosperity, and scientific advancement, these risks underscore the need for a more diversified, resilient, and adaptive launch infrastructure.
Rocket launch in a box
ABL is building a launch platform that delivers on that vision. It is composed of two flagship systems: the GS0 ground system and the RS1 launch vehicle, both of which fit in a set of easily transportable shipping containers.
Sometimes referred to as a “launch site in a box,” GS0 is a rapidly deployable and modular ground system for orbital launch. It transforms open spaces—like a parking lot or an airport—into temporary, fully functional launchpads. GS0 consists of the launch mount and site system, including the fluid and electrical systems that support a launch. It can be rapidly assembled in under a week, can operate off-grid with generator power, and is designed to be operated by non-ABL staff, like US government personnel.
The RS1 is a 1-ton class rocket. It is capable of carrying 1,350 kg to low Earth orbit (LEO) and 300+ kg to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), enabling it to service key national security use cases. Like the GS0, it’s also ultra-transportable and fits in a set of 3 shipping containers (1 for the booster, 1 for the second stage, and 1 for the fairing).
The ability to rapidly transport and assemble both the rocket and launch site allows ABL to deliver an important strategic capability to the Department of Defense: responsive launch. ABL received a $15M task order from the U.S. Space Force to demonstrate that it can integrate and launch a payload within days. Doing so would enable several important low-latency defense applications.
ABL envisions a world where the US and its allies can quickly and cheaply proliferate the number of launch sites available to them. The combination of GS0 and RS1 allows them to realize their vision of more resilient and responsive launch infrastructure.
The right team
ABL was founded in 2017 by CEO Harry O’Hanley and President & CFO Dan Piemont. The pair met in undergrad at MIT, where Harry studied mechanical and nuclear engineering, and Dan studied physics and economics. Harry went on to spend nearly seven years at SpaceX building propulsion systems and ultimately managing Falcon 9 integration and testing. Dan spent four years at Morgan Stanley in sales & trading and did stints in venture capital at First Round and Redpoint.
ABL had its first test launch in January 2023. They didn’t make it to orbit (something no launch company has ever done on a first orbital launch, including SpaceX, Rocket Lab, Relativity, Astra, and Firefly), but they collected a ton of data that they have since used to make huge improvements to both the launch mount and the RS1 rocket. They plan to launch again sometime in early 2024 – we’ll be cheering them on.
Q&A with President, Dan Piemont
What had to be true so ABL could exist? Why now?
Humans have operated in space for sixty years, but in the last decade, three key trends have necessitated a new approach.
There is explosive growth in commercial launch demand. Advances in microprocessors, solid-state storage, software-defined radios, and photovoltaics have made satellites performant, flexible, and cheap enough to be used for consumer internet. Companies around the world are working to capture this $100B+ opportunity by deploying tens of thousands of satellites as fast as they can.
The U.S. military needs new technology to deter adversaries. As we pivot from counterinsurgency to peer competition, aggressive regimes are actively threatening (and attacking) our satellites and infrastructure. In the next global conflict, the first action in space could be decisive. The best solution is to rapidly deploy a more diverse, distributed, and defensible architecture both in space and on the ground.
NASA has re-animated global investment in exploration. Humanity is resolved to develop new space stations, a permanent base on the lunar surface, and ambitious missions to Mars, the asteroid belt, and beyond. This requires a huge increase in the volume, frequency, and type of launches used to test technology, deploy vehicles and habitats, and provide re-supply.
What has been harder than you expected about building ABL?
Developing a launch vehicle with a small team is a real test for everyone involved. These days, basically everything needs to be designed from a blank page to be price competitive, so there are no shortcuts available. You sit down at your computer and do that complex, creative engineering work that rockets are famous for. With a design in hand, you go through a grueling period of analysis, planning, assembly, and testing to meet stringent regulatory requirements and ensure public safety. Anything goes wrong, return to Step 1. Then, during launch campaigns, you have to perform physically as a team in harsh conditions on a countdown with public scrutiny, like in sports or performing arts. No matter who you are, you’re forced to grow in one direction or another. I respect anyone who has made a bona fide contribution as a responsible person in a launch program.
What motivates you to build this company every day?
Day-to-day: I want everyone at ABL to flourish as individuals.
Month-to-month: I want our customers to get to space quickly, easily, and reliably.
Year-to-year: I want there to be space launches multiple times every day from many sites all around the world on a wide variety of rockets performing a huge range of missions to guarantee security, prosperity, discovery, and exploration for all mankind (!!)
Why is LA the right place for you to build your business?
LA has the talent, tools, and energy needed.
Behind every successful person, there are people who play or have played significant roles in making it happen. Who’s one person who has helped you get to this point? How have they helped?
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to recognize the families and friends of everyone at ABL, who provide support, perspective, community, and joy and have made huge contributions to ABL in so many ways.
Thanks to Dan for touring us around the factory. We can’t wait to see your next launch. If you’re interested in joining ABL, check out their open jobs here!
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