Aevum, Inc., a provider of space logistics and delivery services, announces its award of three major contracts from the U.S. Air Force (USAF), worth up to $11.9 million or more. The company is still in consideration for a fourth contract from the Defense Innovation Unit. Most small launch companies are unable to secure contracts of this scale and caliber-especially companies as young as Aevum, which emerged out of stealth mode just over one year ago in June 2018.
The awards that Aevum has received thus far include an AFWERX Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I contract for rapid launch and space logistics, a broad scope, under a special topic developed for rapid transition of the SBIR program.
This contract includes sole-source eligibility for Aevum, a nod to Aevum's unique value proposition to the government market relative to other small launch companies. Key to this value proposition is the RAVN family of launch vehicles: fully autonomous, reusable in their construction, and designed for spaceflight every 180 minutes.
USAF has also awarded Aevum with a contract for its Agile Small Launch Operational Normalizer-45 (ASLON-45) mission. ASLON-45 is the first formal small launch mission contracted by the U.S. Department of Defense via the Small Rocket Program-Orbital (SRP-O) framework of the USAF Rocket Systems Launch Program (RSLP) office.
In addition, USAF Space and Missile Systems Center's Launch Enterprise Small Launch and Targets Division awarded Aevum its Orbital Services Program-4 (OSP-4), Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, giving Aevum the ability to compete for 20 missions over a 9-year period.
The sum-total value of these 20 missions is $986 million. With the OSP-4 IDIQ, Aevum stands alongside some of the most well recognized and established players in the industry to support the USAF with flexible and responsive launch services.
"It has been an absolute pleasure to work with the US Air Force. The Air Force's increased pace of contract awards-flexible and resilient while focusing on rapid innovation, partnerships, and the needs of the end users of the US Department of Defense-is amazing. The leaders of the Air Force are doing an incredible job and Aevum is honored to support USAF efforts to advance the nation's capabilities in space." said Jay Skylus, the company's Founder and CEO.
"What FedEx did for package delivery, Aevum is doing for space access. We are committed to demonstrating continued value to the U.S. government and commercial customers through a relentless focus on accelerating and simplifying space delivery."
