Long Beach-based aerospace firm SpinLaunch Inc. announced June 20 that it had won a contract from the Department of Defense to develop a small satellite launch system prototype.

The company develops kinetic energy and electric-fueled rocket launch systems that send small satellites into space at the cost of roughly $250,000 per launch, a spokeswoman said. Under the Department of Defense contract, SpinLaunch must conduct flight tests by early 2020 and conduct its first launch by 2022.

SpinLaunch is targeting rapid launch capabilities and aims to send five payloads into orbit in a single day.

“There is a promising market surge in the demand for (low Earth orbit) constellations of inexpensive small satellites for disaster monitoring, weather, reconnaissance, communications and other services,” SpinLaunch Chief Executive Jonathan Yaney said in a statement.

SpinLaunch was established in Silicon Valley in 2014 but moved its headquarters to Long Beach in January. It operates a test facility in New Mexico, which spans 10 acres and cost SpinLaunch roughly $7 million to build. The new contract is the company’s first defense contract.

SpinLaunch most recently raised $40 million in a June 2018 Series A round led by Menlo Park-based Airbus Ventures with participation from Google Ventures and Kleiner Perkins. To date, the company has raised $45 million.

Tech reporter Samson Amore can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 556-8335. Follow him on Twitter @samsonamore.