United Launch Alliance (ULA) is an American launch service provider, a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Space and Boeing Defense, Space & Security. As a launch provider, ULA designs, assembles, sells, and launches rockets like the Atlas V and Vulcan Centaur, providing access to space for national security payloads, commercial satellites, and deep-space exploration missions. Its primary customers include the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA, and commercial entities. Key activities involve launch services, rocket development, and partnerships with organizations like NASA and ESA for various space missions.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
John Elbon, ULA’s chief operating officer for the previous eight years, became acting CEO of ULA following Tory Bruno’s resignation.
Blue Origin hired Tory Bruno as its president of national security four days after his resignation from ULA, to lead a new National Security Group.
In the transition period, ULA reported a backlog of more than 80 missions, including Space Force missions and dozens of Vulcan launches booked for Amazon’s LEO broadband constellation.
Mark Peller, who had been senior vice president for Vulcan and advanced programs, was named chief operating officer of ULA in December 2025.
ULA and booster manufacturer Northrop Grumman implemented corrective actions to the solid rocket booster that were successfully demonstrated during a static-fire test in February at a Northrop site in Utah.
ULA projected in 2024 that it would perform 20 launches in 2025, a projection later scaled back to a dozen launches by March 2025 and nine by August 2025.
ULA completed six launches in 2025, including five Atlas 5 missions and one Vulcan mission in August.
The ULA Vulcan, Arianespace Ariane 6, and Blue Origin New Glenn heavy-lift rockets faced development delays as of early 2026.
Amazon originally booked 77 launches with United Launch Alliance (Vulcan), Arianespace (Ariane 6), and Blue Origin (New Glenn).
Tory Bruno resigned as president and CEO of United Launch Alliance on December 22, 2025.
NASA posted a notice on the U.S. System for Award Management to sole-source United Launch Alliance for three Centaur V upper stages.
NASA intends to procure three Centaur V upper stages from United Launch Alliance, with two designated for flight and one designated as a spare.
United Launch Alliance, Rocket Lab, Stoke Space, and Relativity Space are either operating or planning pad infrastructure in the Florida launch corridor.
United Launch Alliance is conducting structural tests of the Blue Ring system at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.
Blue Ring is a space infrastructure system developed by United Launch Alliance to support orbital missions with transport, management, and payload support capabilities.
Tory Bruno, chief executive officer of United Launch Alliance, posted an image of the Blue Ring Structural Test Asset on X.
SpaceShip will soon expand United Launch Alliance’s family of rocket transportation vessels.
SpaceShip is ULA’s new rocket transport vessel and is in the water and almost ready to enter service.
RocketShip is a ULA rocket transport vessel that transports Atlas V and Vulcan rockets from the factory to launch sites.
United Launch Alliance is a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.