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.
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A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket launched the USSF-12 mission on 2022-07-01.
United Launch Alliance and SpaceX won five-year National Security Space Launch Phase 2 contracts in 2020 to launch as many as 35 military and intelligence space missions.
The National Security Space Launch Phase 2 contracts awarded to United Launch Alliance and SpaceX in 2020 are up for recompete in 2024.
United Launch Alliance is slated to launch two SES C-band replacement satellites in the third quarter of 2022.
United Launch Alliance must start flying Vulcan and complete two commercial orbital missions successfully to receive certification to launch U.S. military and intelligence satellites under the National Security Space Launch program.
The Space Force awarded United Launch Alliance and SpaceX five-year National Security Space Launch Phase 2 contracts in 2020 to launch collectively as many as 35 NSSL missions.
Blue Origin lost national security launch awards in 2020 to United Launch Alliance and SpaceX.
United Launch Alliance expects Vulcan Centaur’s first flight to take place in late 2022.
Northrop Grumman received a contract worth more than $2,000,000,000 on 2022-06-08 to produce solid rocket boosters for United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V and Vulcan Centaur launch vehicles.
The GEM 63XL booster is scheduled to support United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket in the extended-length variation’s first flight later 2022.
Northrop Grumman began developing the GEM strap-on boosters in 2015 under contract to United Launch Alliance.
Northrop Grumman Corporation has been awarded a multi-year contract valued at more than $2,000,000,000 from United Launch Alliance for increased production of the 63-inch-diameter GEM 63 solid rocket booster and the extended-length GEM 63XL.
United Launch Alliance has launched over 145 missions with a 100 percent mission success record.
United Launch Alliance received five NSS launch service orders for GPS III-7, USSF-23, USSF-43, WGS-11+, and USSF-16 using the Vulcan Centaur launch vehicle.
The Space Systems Command awarded seven Phase 2 missions between August 2020 and March 2021 with four missions assigned to United Launch Alliance for $561,100,000 and three missions assigned to SpaceX for $475,700,000.
United Launch Alliance is establishing a new customer program office to support Amazon’s Project Kuiper.
Col. Douglas Pentecost, Space Systems Command’s deputy director of launch enterprise, identified ULA’s task orders for the five missions as worth $566,000,000 and SpaceX’s orders for the three missions as worth $280,000,000.
United Launch Alliance and SpaceX won the National Security Space Launch Phase 2 launch services procurement contract in 2020 with ULA awarded 60% and SpaceX awarded 40% of the missions over five years.
Of the eight missions funded in fiscal years 2022 and 2023, five were assigned to United Launch Alliance and three were assigned to SpaceX.
Starliner launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 6:36 a.m. on Friday, 2021-12-20 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.