As ABL Space Systems’ RS1 rocket lifted off from the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Alaska on Tuesday, it was accompanied by a unique piece of US space heritage. 

Unlike the historic artefacts flown to the moon on the recent Artemis 1 flight, ABL’s recognition of the US space legacy is visual and comes in the form of the checkered black and white markings found on the livery of their vehicle.

While checkered markings are commonly used to optically track launch vehicles, RS1’s are used to tell a story that began over 60 years ago with the launch of Mercury Redstone 3.

Piloted by Alan Shepard, MR-3 marked the first US crewed space flight, a defining moment in the history of the US space industry.

The cultural significance of this historic flight still resonates today, Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital launch vehicle is even named after its pilot.

But while Blue Origin leverage semantics, ABL’s approach is entirely visual, taking MR-3’s black and white tracking markings and applying them to the livery of RS1 in what they describe as, “a tribute to the early days of the U.S. space program”.

But ABL has another reason to select this specific flight as an inspiration for RS1:

ABL’s focus on simple launch solutions makes MR-3 an inspiring benchmark not only for the RS1 vehicle, but for the ABL brand.

While launch brands such as Landspace utilise livery to create powerful stories around their vehicles, ABL go further, fully integrating the checkered markings into every aspect of their brand identity.

When ABL updated their identity earlier this year, they took the opportunity to evolve their visual equity further still, reimagining the simple black and white shapes as a series of flexible icons and vibrant supergraphics. 

It’s exciting to see that while the ABL brand identity evolves, its provenance can still be traced to a historic flight at the dawn of the US space industry. ABL proudly declare themselves “100% American Made.” and their linkage to US space heritage through approachable, emotional brand storytelling helps to reinforce this narrative.

This narrative helps position ABL as a key player in the next chapter of US spaceflight and while a sea of space brands compete to shape the future, ABL’s brand identity shows us that it pays to celebrate the past.