An RS1 rocket booster passes acceptance tests.
ABL Space
Rocket builder ABL Space closed a $ 170 million financing round, the company announced on Thursday, becoming the latest private space venture to hit the unicorn rating mark.
ABL raised funds from T. Rowe Price and Fidelity Management, as well as from an unidentified third investment company and existing investors, at a valuation of $ 1.3 billion.
“We are always proud of capital efficiency,” ABL CEO Harry O’Hanley told CNBC, noting that the company has spent “far less” than $ 50 million so far.
“If you compare us to other companies that spend hundreds of millions of dollars on developing launch vehicles, you’ll see how our basic approach must be fundamentally differentiated to achieve this,” added O’Hanley.
The company had raised $ 49 million in venture capital to date, with investors like Venrock, New Science Ventures, Lynett Capital and Lockheed Martin Ventures. ABL also announced nearly $ 45 million in contracts from the Air Force Research Laboratory and AFWERX, with the company saying on Thursday that it now has contracts for ten “different customers” from a mix of commercial and government customers.
“We think the global space economy has significant long-term growth potential,” said Jason Adams, portfolio manager for the Global Industrial Fund T. Rowe Price, in a statement. “We think that ABL has a management team, technology set and product strategy that should allow long-term competitive advantages.”
The first stage of the company’s RS1 rocket after welding is completed.
ABL Space
ABL’s RS1 rocket is 88 feet tall and is designed to launch up to 1,350 kilograms (or nearly 1½ ton) of payload into Earth’s low orbit – at a price of $ 12 million per launch. This puts RS1 in the middle of the commercial launch market, between Rocket Lab’s smallest Electron for $ 7 million and SpaceX’s heavy Falcon 9 for $ 62 million.
It also pits GLA against several other companies that develop “medium sustaining” rockets. Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit recently reached orbit, while ABL is alongside Relativity Space and Firefly Aerospace for the company’s first launches later this year.
In addition to the economical approach to the ABL rocket development process, the company also praises the efficiency of its GS0 implantable soil system. It is essentially the structure of a launch facility – the erector, supply, electrical control center and more – all packed in a few standard size containers.
One of the shipping containers that contains the GS0 implantable launch system infrastructure.
ABL Space
O’Hanley told CNBC in January that the ABL rocket program was already “fully funded” through its first mission and, on Thursday, said the $ 170 million increase in capital “will give us the opportunity to establish a staggered launch cadence to meet all of the demand that we’re seeing in 2022 and beyond. “
“It will also allow us to begin to carefully explore more opportunities in space technology and elsewhere,” said O’Hanley.
ABL’s new appraisal also makes it the latest space venture to surpass the unicorn mark of an appraisal of more than $ 1 billion. The company is now among the most valuable in the growing space industry, which is led by SpaceX with a valuation of $ 74 billion and followed by a variety of companies that have announced SPAC deals in the past six months.
Dan Piemont, president and CFO of ABL, shared his opinion on the new status of the company.
“We don’t see our assessment as an achievement, but as a serious responsibility to add value,” Piemont told CNBC. “We never optimize for valuation and we keep most of our achievements private. We know that we still have a lot to prove. We want to build a lasting company with the best people, customers and investors in the world.”
“I hope this round shows that there is something special going on behind the scenes here at ABL. If you want to know more about what this is, get in touch,” added Piemont.