NASA has selected 12 companies to provide launch services for the agency’s Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) missions, providing new opportunities for science and technology payloads and fostering a growing U.S. commercial launch market.

Technicians complete final checks on internal components of the metallic first-stage rocket of ABL’s RS1. This is the last time ABL personnel will touch this hardware before it launches into space.

The first two prototype satellites, KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat- 2, will launch separately on rockets from ABL Space Systems, one of a handful of start-ups building smaller launch vehicles to sate demand from satellite companies.

El Segundo-based aerospace company ABL Space Systems Inc. inked a deal with the Port of Long Beach to  build a spacecraft processing facility on premises.