United Launch Alliance

United Launch Alliance (ULA) is a US space launch services provider formed in 2006 that flies the Vulcan and Atlas V rockets for national security, civil and commercial customers. It combines more than 100 years of launch history from the Atlas and Delta rocket families and has achieved more than 150 consecutive launches since its formation. Its stated mission is to save lives, explore the universe and connect the world, and its vision is to harness the potential of space for humanity. ULA is led by president and chief executive Mark Peller, who joined at the company's formation, led the Vulcan programme from inception to certification and previously served as chief operating officer; Curt Ohland is chief financial officer. On 5 June 2024 an Atlas V launched NASA astronauts aboard Boeing's CST-100 Starliner from Space Launch Complex 41, returning human spaceflight to Cape Canaveral.

Rockets

• Vulcan: a scalable launch system offered in zero, two, four and six solid rocket booster configurations, with the Centaur V upper stage providing long endurance for complex insertions to GEO, GTO, LEO, polar, MEO and trans-lunar trajectories, which ULA describes as the only high-energy architecture rocket for the most challenging national security missions
• Atlas V: a common core booster with up to five solid rocket boosters, a single or dual-engine Centaur upper stage with L3Harris RL10C-1 engines and long-coast relight capability, and several fairing sizes, lifting up to 39,080 lb to geosynchronous transfer orbit
• 5.4 m diameter composite payload fairings in 15.5 m and 21.3 m lengths with off-pad encapsulation and debris-free separation
• Multi-manifest options including the Aft Bulkhead Carrier for up to 24U CubeSats of 80 kg and an ESPA secondary payload ring

Operations and missions

Rockets are built at ULA's 1.6 million square foot production facility in Decatur, Alabama, and carried by the custom-built R/S RocketShip, a 312 ft roll-on roll-off vessel with a crew of 16 that travels 2,642 river miles and 10,506 ocean miles to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Vandenberg Space Force Base. Recent missions on its site include launches for Amazon Leo, the Artemis II ICPS-2 and the USSF-87 and USSF-106 missions, and the company reports a total national five-year economic impact of USD 13.4 billion through its supplier team.

Shows

United Launch Alliance appears in the sponsor and exhibitor lists of the Space Symposium 2027, where it is listed as a co-sponsor, and SATELLITE 2027.

Contact

Production: Decatur, Alabama, USA; launch sites at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, and Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
Description from the company’s website. Is this your company? Claim this page to add your services, photos and contact details.