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.
Blue Origin, United Launch Alliance, and Northrop Grumman were collectively awarded Launch Service Agreement contracts worth $2,300,000,000 in October to help partially fund vehicle development and build launch infrastructure for national security payloads.
The Air Force procured three additional Delta IV Heavy launches from United Launch Alliance to allow more time for competitors to mature propulsion systems for heavy rockets.
The original value of the Air Force other transaction agreement for AR1 development was $804,000,000 with the Air Force providing two-thirds of the funding and the remainder coming from Aerojet Rocketdyne and, to a lesser extent, United Launch Alliance.
In 2012 NASA ordered three Delta II launches from United Launch Alliance for a total cost of $412 million, or about $137,000,000 per launch including payload processing and related services.
United Launch Alliance selected Blue Origin’s BE-4 engine over the AR1 for the Vulcan launch vehicle in September 2018.
Blue Origin, United Launch Alliance and Northrop Grumman were awarded a total of $2,300,000,000 in Launch Service Agreement (LSA) funding in October to develop next-generation rockets and supporting infrastructure.
Blue Origin, United Launch Alliance and Northrop Grumman are developing new vehicles that are not expected to fly until 2021.
United Launch Alliance is developing the Vulcan Centaur rocket powered by Blue Origin’s BE-4 engine.
Congress passed a law in 2015 that set a 2022 deadline for the Air Force to phase out United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket powered by the Russian RD-180 engine.
United Launch Alliance will begin flying Vulcan hardware on Atlas 5 rockets to give the next-generation Vulcan launcher flight heritage before Vulcan’s planned 2021 debut.
United Launch Alliance selected Orbital ATK (now Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems) in 2015 to provide GEM-63XL solid rocket boosters for Vulcan.
Blue Origin, United Launch Alliance, and Northrop Grumman were chosen in October by the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center to share $2,300,000,000 in Launch Service Agreement funding.
Ruag’s out-of-autoclave fairings are manufactured in the U.S. in a factory next to United Launch Alliance’s facility in Decatur and will fly on Atlas 5 2019.
Blue Origin asserts that selecting two providers in 2020 to split 60/40 contracts for up to 25 launches between 2022 and 2026 would forestall competition and advantage United Launch Alliance and SpaceX.
United Launch Alliance is eligible to receive up to $967,000,000 from the Air Force to support development of the Vulcan Centaur rocket.
United Launch Alliance decided to phase out Atlas 5’s Aerojet Rocketdyne-supplied solid boosters in favor of GEM-63 boosters.
SpaceX withdrew its protest of a NASA launch contract awarded to United Launch Alliance on 2020-04-04.
NASA awarded the RLSP-35 launch contract to United Launch Alliance on 2020-01-31 for the Lucy mission.
The Air Force made Launch Service Agreement cost-sharing awards in October to Blue Origin’s New Glenn ($500,000,000), Northrop Grumman’s OmegA ($792,000,000), and United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur ($967,000,000).
United Launch Alliance has 12 RD-180 engines in inventory that can be used for national security launches awarded between now and 2022.