Small-satellite launch company ABL Space Systems is gearing up for its first-ever liftoff.

ABL completed a key fueling test, called a wet dress rehearsal, with its RS1 rocket on the pad at the Pacific Spaceport Complex on Alaska’s Kodiak Island this week, the company said.

“At this point, each stage has individually completed all major pre-flight tests,” O’Hanley said. “Next, we’ll prepare for stage mate to perform final checkouts on the fully stacked vehicle and perform a wet dress rehearsal. Following that, launch.”

ABL Space Systems said May 16 it completed acceptance tests of the second stage of its RS1 vehicle, four months after the original upper stage was destroyed in a test anomaly.

The Air Force Research Laboratory and ABL Space Systems are collaborating to demonstrate how launch systems can be operated rapidly by small teams from nontraditional sites.