The Road to Flight 2, with Dan Piemont (ABL Space)

ABL Space is heading back to the pad after a power failure prevented its maiden launch attempt from reaching orbit last January. The company, known for its innovative approach to ground infrastructure by containerizing its launch system, aims to launch its RS1 rocket by the year's end.

This week's Pathfinder podcast features Dan Piemont, the cofounder, President, and CFO of the LA-based launch startup. Mo and Dan delve into the lessons learned from the company's initial launch attempt and the improvements made to the RS1 and GS0 ground system. In addition, they discuss:

• How ABL differentiates itself in the market
• Current supply/demand dynamics of launch
• Rideshare packaging efficiency
• Plans after Flight 2

And much more…

This episode is brought to you by SpiderOak, a US-based software company that builds space cybersecurity products and solutions for civilian, military, and commercial space operations. Learn more at https://spideroak.com/ 

• Chapters • 

00:00 - Intro & SpiderOak Ad

01:56 - Dan’s background

02:34 - History of ABL

05:05 - What differentiates ABL?

08:23 - Regulation surrounding mobile launch systems

10:08 - Flight 1, what happened?

13:56 - Key improvements on Flight 2

18:12 - Risks of diving into Block 2

20:53 - Plans after Flight 2

21:29 - Increasing launch cadence

24:52 - Traction between government and commercial customers

26:43 - Is heavier launch in ABL’s future?

28:20 - SpiderOak Ad

29:07 - Supply and demand dynamics

32:56 - Rideshare packaging efficiency

42:51 - Lack of high cadence in the industry

44:30 - What are investors currently looking for in the market?

48:12 - Creating momentum after Flight 1

• Show notes • 

ABL's website — https://ablspacesystems.com/

ABL's socials — https://twitter.com/ablspacesystems

Mo's socials — https://twitter.com/itsmoislam 

Payload’s socials — https://twitter.com/payloadspace / https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspace 

Pathfinder archive — Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@payloadspace Pathfinder archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/episodes 

• About us • 

Pathfinder is brought to you by Payload, a modern space media brand built from the ground up for a new age of space exploration and commercialization. We deliver need-to-know news and insights daily to 15,000+ commercial, civil, and military space leaders. Payload is read by decision-makers at every leading new space company, along with c-suite leaders at all of the aerospace & defense primes. We’re also read on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon, and at space agencies around the world. Payload began as a weekly email sent to a few friends and coworkers. 

Today, we’re a team distributed across four time zones and two continents, publishing three media properties across multiple platforms: 1) Payload, our flagship daily newsletter, sends M-F @ 9am Eastern (https://newsletter.payloadspace.com/) 2) Pathfinder publishes weekly on Tuesday mornings (pod.payloadspace.com) 3) Polaris, our weekly policy publication, hits inboxes Tuesday (https://polaris.payloadspace.com/) 4) Parallax, our weekly space science briefing, hits inboxes Thursday (https://parallax.payloadspace.com/)