TYB
ABL Space Systems lays off staff
August 30, 2024
Launch vehicle developer ABL Space Systems has laid off a significant portion of its workforce, citing the need to reduce costs after the loss of a rocket in a static-fire test.
In a post on LinkedIn Aug. 30, Harry O’Hanley, chief executive of ABL, said the company was laying off an unspecified number of people.
He included the email he sent to company staff after an all-hands meeting to discuss the layoffs.
The layoffs came after the company’s second RS1 rocket was lost in a fire after a static-fire test at the Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska on Kodiak Island July 19.
The company was in the final phases of testing ahead of a launch attempt when a fire broke out under the vehicle on the pad after an aborted static fire, eventually destroying the vehicle.
O’Hanley said in the email that the company had been working to reduce costs at the company even ahead of that test, citing changes in the market and access to capital.
The company had raised several hundred million dollars, including $200 million in October 2021 and $170 million in March 2021.
“In 2021, the space industry – along with nearly every industry – was a red-hot market. We faced significant pressure to scale and capital was available to support it,” O’Hanley wrote.
The company had originally planned to be a lean organization, “but to remain competitive we built a large organization capable of producing rockets at a high rate while we continued to tackle the challenges associated with launch vehicle development.”
Access to capital became more difficult in 2022, he wrote, as ABL continued development of the RS1.
The company’s first test flight of the rocket, in January 2023, failed when a loss of power caused the first stage’s engines to shut down about 10 seconds after liftoff.
Hanley wrote that, starting in 2023, “we cut costs and positioned the company for leaner operations with smaller teams, restrained hiring, and more conservative spending.”
That was working, he said, until the static-fire incident. “Through these efforts, we were able to get onto a good glidepath, but the recent staticfire issue knocked us from it.”
He did not disclose in the email how many people were being laid off, and the company did not immediately respond to questions about it.
The company listed about 170 employees on its website as of late August.
O’Hanley said that the company, moving forward, will return its roots as a lean company.
The reorganization would “reset the cost structure of the business to be sustainable in any environment” and give ABL “sufficient time to iterate and mature the technology.”
That includes, he said, an emphasis on mobility.
The company has set up ground equipment that can be easily shipped to enable launches from locations with little existing infrastructure.
He did not indicate what the layoffs meant for the schedule for RS1.
The company stated Aug. 26, when it outlined the cause of the statis-fire anomaly, that the next rocket was “well into production.”
The ground equipment, known as GS0, was being shipped back to California for repairs and refurbishment.
“In 6.5 years, you designed a launch vehicle from scratch and got two rockets onto the pad.
Few other teams have done that, let alone take on the scope that you did,” he wrote to departing employees.
“Be proud of this work because nothing can ever strip these accomplishments from you.”
https://spacenews.com/abl-space-systems-lays-off-staff/
General Dynamics secures $491 million contract extension from Space Development Agency
August 30, 2024
General Dynamics Mission Systems, a unit of defense contractor General Dynamics, has been awarded a $491 million contract extension by the Space Development Agency for satellite ground systems, the Pentagon announced Aug. 30.
The modification nearly doubles the company’s existing contract with the Space Development Agency (SDA) to approximately $900 million through 2029.
General Dynamics in 2022 was selected to build the ground operations and integration segment for the SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), a mesh network of satellites in low Earth orbit designed to support global military operations.
SDA. which is under the U.S. Space Force, is building the PWSA with a dedicated tracking layer that allows for real-time detection and monitoring of ballistic missile threats.
The PWSA also is intended to provide a low-latency communication backbone for continuous data transmission, enhancing the ability to coordinate joint operations across different military branches.
General Dynamics, collaborating with Iridium Communications and other subcontractors including KSAT, Raytheon Technologies and Emergent, will develop and maintain two primary operations centers located at Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota, and Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama.
These centers will oversee network and mission management, payload data handling, and constellation monitoring.
Additionally, the companies will develop 14 ground stations to serve as data entry points.
https://spacenews.com/general-dynamics-secures-491-million-contract-extension-from-space-development-agency/
Real estate investor moves to ease Space Coast strain
August 30, 2024
Real estate investor Hines plans to start building a large industrial complex on Florida’s Space Coast this year to help ease strained infrastructure at the world’s busiest launch hub.
Hines aims to construct up to three rear-load buildings totaling 60,000 square meters by the end of 2025 under the first phase the project, located close to Florida’s Space Coast Regional Airport, the nearest commercial airport to the Kennedy Space Center.
The Space Coast Innovation Park (SCIP) could later span 279,000 square meters.
Ryan Wood, managing director of industrial development and acquisitions at Hines, said the company is targeting aerospace names and their suppliers that are struggling to find enough space for operations in the area.
“With all the robust growth that we’ve seen in the space industry along the Space Coast, it has certainly stretched the infrastructure,” he said.
While pressure the Cape is under to cater for a significant rise in launch has been broadly documented, Wood said the rising activity is spilling out into neighboring regions and increasing the need for more general aerospace infrastructure.
He declined to detail the companies interested in setting up operations at SCIP because of non-disclosure agreements.
“It’s a healthy mix,” he said, “of both existing companies that have a large and existing presence on the Space Coast, as well as new companies with some really innovative and exciting ideas needing access to the launch facilities and infrastructure.”
Because industrial Space Coast activity has grown so quickly, he said many existing companies occupy less efficient and older facilities and are eager to modernize their infrastructure.
SCIP would be optimized for activities such as light space hardware assembly, repair and mission-critical storage.
“Just five years ago we had maybe 30 launches a year,” Wood continued, but this is “projected to go over 100 launches this year.
With that increase in frequency, you need to have access to the key materials in close proximity to those launch facilities, and so I think that’s where we’re going to see a lot of the demand here.”
However, he noted “it takes time to develop sites in Florida.”
Hines started working with locally based real estate firm Key Group on SCIP several years ago, and initially planned to break ground early this year.
Through the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund (JGGF), Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced a $6 million award Aug. 22 to build a road directly connecting SCIP to the Space Coast Regional Airport.
The road is slated to be completed at roughly the same time as SCIP Phase 1.
The grant “was really the catalyst to now make this into a reality to be constructed next year,” Wood said, “and not just get stuck in the design phase.”
Hines owns an operates around $93 billion of assets worldwide.
But while SCIP construction work will use similar manufacturing logistics processes Hines has used since being founded 66 years ago, he said the project is its first to focus specifically on aerospace.
https://spacenews.com/real-estate-investor-moves-to-ease-space-coast-strain/
Real estate investor moves to ease Space Coast strain
August 30, 2024
Real estate investor Hines plans to start building a large industrial complex on Florida’s Space Coast this year to help ease strained infrastructure at the world’s busiest launch hub.
Hines aims to construct up to three rear-load buildings totaling 60,000 square meters by the end of 2025 under the first phase the project, located close to Florida’s Space Coast Regional Airport, the nearest commercial airport to the Kennedy Space Center.
The Space Coast Innovation Park (SCIP) could later span 279,000 square meters.
Ryan Wood, managing director of industrial development and acquisitions at Hines, said the company is targeting aerospace names and their suppliers that are struggling to find enough space for operations in the area.
“With all the robust growth that we’ve seen in the space industry along the Space Coast, it has certainly stretched the infrastructure,” he said.
While pressure the Cape is under to cater for a significant rise in launch has been broadly documented, Wood said the rising activity is spilling out into neighboring regions and increasing the need for more general aerospace infrastructure.
He declined to detail the companies interested in setting up operations at SCIP because of non-disclosure agreements.
“It’s a healthy mix,” he said, “of both existing companies that have a large and existing presence on the Space Coast, as well as new companies with some really innovative and exciting ideas needing access to the launch facilities and infrastructure.”
Because industrial Space Coast activity has grown so quickly, he said many existing companies occupy less efficient and older facilities and are eager to modernize their infrastructure.
SCIP would be optimized for activities such as light space hardware assembly, repair and mission-critical storage.
“Just five years ago we had maybe 30 launches a year,” Wood continued, but this is “projected to go over 100 launches this year.
With that increase in frequency, you need to have access to the key materials in close proximity to those launch facilities, and so I think that’s where we’re going to see a lot of the demand here.”
Hines started working with locally based real estate firm Key Group on SCIP several years ago, and initially planned to break ground early this year.
Through the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund (JGGF), Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced a $6 million award Aug. 22 to build a road directly connecting SCIP to the Space Coast Regional Airport.
The road is slated to be completed at roughly the same time as SCIP Phase 1.
The grant “was really the catalyst to now make this into a reality to be constructed next year,” Wood said, “and not just get stuck in the design phase.”
Hines owns an operates around $93 billion of assets worldwide.
But while SCIP construction work will use similar manufacturing logistics processes Hines has used since being founded 66 years ago, he said the project is its first to focus specifically on aerospace.
https://spacenews.com/real-estate-investor-moves-to-ease-space-coast-strain/