United Launch Alliance

United Launch Alliance (ULA) operates the Vulcan Centaur launch vehicle, a medium-to-heavy-lift system designed to deliver payloads to low Earth orbit, sun-synchronous orbit, and geostationary orbit. Vulcan utilizes two Blue Origin BE-4 engines on its first stage and a Centaur V upper stage fueled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The company is phasing out its legacy Atlas V fleet and recently retired the Delta IV Heavy to transition entirely to Vulcan operations. ULA manufactures and assembles its rockets at a 1.6-million-square-foot facility in Decatur, Alabama, and conducts launches from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Formed in 2006 as a 50/50 joint venture between Lockheed Martin and The Boeing Company, ULA serves as a primary launch provider for the U.S. Space Force, National Reconnaissance Office, and NASA. The company is executing a multi-launch contract for Amazon's Project Kuiper and provides launch services for various commercial and international customers. Future developments include the SMART (Sensible Modular Autonomous Recovery Technology) system for engine reuse and the Advanced Centaur for Exploration Services (ACES) for long-duration orbital transfer. Following a leadership transition in December 2025, John Elbon serves as Interim CEO while the company scales toward a higher annual launch cadence.