ABL Space Systems is dropping plans to compete in the launch market and is switching its focus to missile programs for U.S. national defense.
ABL, founded in 2017, had attempted to reach orbit with its RS1 rocket, but suffered setbacks when the first attempt saw the rocket fall back to the launch pad and explode on Alaska's Kodiak island in January 2023. The second RS1 was also destroyed during preflight testing in July this year. Now, the company is dropping out of the launch market and turning its attention to missile defense, ABL's co-founder and president Dan Piemont wrote in a social media post on Nov. 14.
