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.

ABL Space Systems, which was founded in 2017, has developed a transportable launch system model that can send a rocket to space anywhere there’s a flat patch of concrete. ABL’s rockets, built in-house, and its ground stations can be moved via shipping containers and require only five operators per launch.

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.