Smallsat launcher in development ABL Space Systems has closed a $200 million expansion of its Series B investment round raising the company’s valuation from $1.3 billion to $2.4 billion.

California-based ABL Space Systems has been named as the launch provider for NASA’s cryogenic demonstration mission which will demonstrate in-space transfer of cryogenic liquid hydrogen.

A California company that has yet to even attempt a rocket launch has nonetheless inked a major deal with Lockheed Martin for dozens of missions over the next decade.

“If you compare us to other companies spending hundreds of millions of dollars developing launch vehicles, you should see how fundamentally differentiated our underlying approach must be to achieve that,” ABL CEO Harry O’Hanley told CNBC.