Contracts and funding round have a combined value of more than $90 million.
ABL Space Systems Co. has completed integrated stage testing of the RS1 small satellite launch vehicle. Testing on the RS1 second stage used the in-house designed E2 liquid rocket engine at Edwards Air Force Base. Critical aspects the campaign included propellant tank handling, operating pressurant management systems, and refining the stage arming and engine startup sequences, all of which were accomplished successfully. This test campaign builds on the successes of 18 months of extensive component, engine, and stage testing.
"Every day we are humbled by our goal to raise the standard for rapid, efficient launch vehicle development," said Dan Piemont, ABL founder and president. "Folks who know orbital launch know that integrated stage testing is the first real proof of capability. To get here in just three years with under 75 people validates the advantages of our approach."
ABL manufactures engines and stages in state-of-the-art facilities in El Segundo, California. By staying highly verticalized and focusing on low-cost, scalable manufacturing processes, ABL delivers industry leading capability and pricing to the small satellite community. RS1 can deliver one metric ton to sun synchronous orbit, 400kg to geosynchronous transfer orbit, and 250kg to lunar injection orbit.
"Simplicity is key," said Harry O'Hanley, ABL founder and CEO. "Our company is just over three years old. Yet, we've moved markedly faster and been more capital efficient than others because we avoid exotic, unproven architectures and manufacturing processes. Unless an innovation adds measurable value to our customer, we do not pursue it."
ABL will continue performing stage test operations at Edwards Air Force Base in the coming weeks to accumulate additional run time on the engine and stage. The launch vehicle system will undergo a series of stress tests to demonstrate performance in a variety of different flight conditions. RS1 is scheduled for an initial launch in the first quarter of 2021 from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
In August 2020, ABL Space Systems was awarded two U.S. DOD contracts and secured a large round of funding with a combined value of more than $90 million. The Air Force Research Laboratory and AFWERX, with participation from the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, awarded ABL $44.5 million across three years. Additionally, ABL secured $49 million of financing led by Ethan Batraski at Venrock with participation from New Science Ventures, Lynett Capital, and Lockheed Martin Ventures.
ABL has leased additional propulsion test facilities at Mojave Air and Space Port; expanded into a 60,000ft2 multi-facility campus in El Segundo to support full-scale production of the RS1 vehicle; received a signed Category 1 certification plan from NASA; and grown to a team of 80 engineers, designers, and production experts.
The collaboration has rapidly scaled up ventilator manufacturing, producing nearly 9,000 new medical ventilators.
Cogmedix announces the successful completion of its collaborative program with ZOLL Medical Corp. of Chelmsford, Mass., to rapidly increase ventilator production in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier this year, ZOLL announced its plan to deliver 10,000 ventilators per month and immediately mobilized compliant supply chain partners that could assist in the production and rapid scale-up responsibilities necessary to meet this surging demand. After strategic discussions, quality audits, and capacity assessment, ZOLL selected Massachusetts-based Cogmedix as a partner.
“In the face of the most challenging pandemic of our lifetime, our team at Cogmedix was able to rapidly establish compliant work-cells, train staff, deploy record management systems, and scale-up production,” says Coghlin Companies President and CEO Chris Coghlin.
“The support received from ZOLL during this process was exemplary,” Coghlin says. “Our close proximity to ZOLL’s headquarters and our strong reputation of successfully commercializing complex electronic and electro-mechanical medical devices for global med-device OEMs made this relationship a natural fit from the start.”
"We have always strived to build the highest-quality portable ventilators on the market," says Jon Rennert, CEO of ZOLL. ”We have a large, highly trained workforce and state-of-the-art factories. However, when ZOLL’s demand outpaced capacity, Cogmedix helped us scale manufacturing to meet the urgent need for expanded production.”
“The entire Cogmedix and ZOLL team demonstrated profound dedication and resilience to meet this essential manufacturing need during this unprecedented period,” he added.
The ZOLL ventilator has been the preferred transport ventilator of the U.S. Department of Defense for more than 10 years. The design is proven to be portable, rugged, safe, reliable, and easy to use in challenging environments.
Cogmedix produces thousands of medical devices annually for global leading innovators in the surgical, aesthetic, dental, and ophthalmic industries with exceptional compliance, competence, and commitment. Facilities are equipped with dedicated work-cells, clean rooms and custom test labs that operate in accordance with state and federal safety guidelines.
PRAB's Mike Hook discusses how to find the financing silver lining in 2020's numerous storm clouds.
Spends more than $1million in pneumatics, dynamics, projectile impact, and hot fuel testing capabilities.
Element Materials Technology has increased its aerospace testing capabilities with significant investments of more than $1million in pneumatics, dynamics, projectile impact, and hot fuel testing at its Jupiter, Florida laboratory.
These investments provide customers with faster turnaround times, greater efficiency, and the ability to accommodate a larger and more diverse range of test samples and test conditions to allow for more highly technical analysis.
The recent procurement of a high-capacity, 400hp electric compressor expands the boundaries of Element’s current pneumatics testing offering, providing a more extreme range of temperature, flow, and pressure for its test programs. Tests such as bleed air simulation; leakage and pressure drop; and design for life endurance, can be applied at the component system level. In the aerospace sector, this includes environmental control systems, heat exchangers, and bleed air components, while in renewables it supports the development of more efficient turbine engines.
The laboratory’s acquisition of a 44,000 lbf electrodynamic shaker is the largest in Element’s fleet of shakers worldwide. Its size accommodates bigger and heavier loads, including whole rocket engines or entire aircraft cabin systems, and a combined thermal and dynamics environment can be achieved on this system using a specially designed, adjustable environmental chamber. This, coupled with a 3" displacement capability, can accommodate most current engine windmilling, fan blade off, and tire burst testing requirements. Reaching beyond aerospace, the shaker can be used for testing products from other sectors, including transportation, oil & gas, and medical.
In addition, two new hot fuel cells have been added to the laboratory. These cells allow testing of fuel components or systems at high temperature and high pressure, using state of the art safety and a new projectile impact pneumatic canon that can shoot a variety of items, including birds (simulated and real) of 1.5 lb to 8 lb; hail (simulated and real) of 0.50" to 2.75" diameter; gravel and stone; drones; and metal fragments. Most recently, this facility was used for testing ballistic material that lines a large commercial turbine engine.
Rick Sluiters, EVP Americas at Element, said: “The Jupiter laboratory is a center of excellence for highly engineered testing, including hydraulic and pneumatic test simulation, and is a critical service-and-solution provider for aerospace, defense, nuclear, and other industries, both locally and worldwide. These investments are part of a larger plan to grow the laboratory’s offering, which ranges from providing increased capacity and more technical services, to moving some facilities indoors for customer comfort and improving infrastructure to reduce customer set-up costs.
“The addition of the compressor, shaker, hot fuel cells and projectile impact canon, with their significantly increased capabilities, is another step forward in furthering our technical offering for customers across multiple sectors, and solidifies our place as a leader in the North American market.”
Some materials supplied to Safran to be manufactured by U.S.-based prepreg supplier Renegade Materials Corp.
Teijin Ltd. has obtained a long-term agreement with Tier 1 aerospace and defense supplier Safran S.A.
Teijin has been supplying high-performance materials to Safran for the last 25 years. The contract establishes the timeframe for supply of Teijin’s high-performance materials dedicated to the manufacturing of parts for new-generation aircraft.
Teijin and Safran intend to reinforce their collaboration to meet the challenges of the aviation market, creating advanced technologies that lower production costs and environmental impact. Teijin may supply Safran with a variety of high-performance materials to manufacture various Safran products used for aircraft applications in commercial, defense industry, or space applications. Some of the first materials supplied to Safran should be manufactured by U.S.-based Renegade Materials Corp., a prepreg supplier specialized in high-temperature resistant resin and safe, non-toxic polyimide prepreg materials, which Teijin acquired in 2019.
Safran Vice President, Materials Purchasing, Thierry Viguier, stated, “The signature of this master agreement materializes the growing relation between Safran and Teijin. Safran expects to reach new steps in aeronautical equipment performance and competitiveness, thanks to the innovation capacity of Teijin in high-performance materials.”
Shukei Inui, General Manager of Teijin’s Carbon Fiber Business Unit commented, “This agreement with Safran is a milestone in our long and trustful relationship and will strengthen Teijin’s position as a reliable material supplier to the aircraft industry. Together with Safran, we will deliver innovative products and solutions, answering the industry’s needs for well-processable, cost efficient, and sustainable light-weight materials.”
Stated as the group’s strategic focus in its Medium-term Management Plan for 2020–2022, Teijin is pushing forward its development of mid- to-downstream applications for aircraft, targeting annual sales in this field of more than $900 million by around 2030.
Teijin posted consolidated sales of $ 8.0 billion and total assets of $ 9.4 billion in the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2020.