The CEO of SpaceX Rival United Launch Alliance has resigned

The CEO of SpaceX rival United Launch Alliance, Tory Bruno, has resigned after 12 years on the job “to pursue other opportunities,” according to the company.

“We are grateful for Tory’s service to ULA and the nation, and we thank him for his leadership,” United Launch Alliance (ULA) chairmen Robert Lightfoot and Kay Sears said in a statement.

Bruno’s departure comes at a time when new airlines are driving the startup market. Elon Musk’s SpaceX has ramped up its launches in recent years, and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is seen as a serious player after that. first successful projects of the New Glenn heavy-lift rocket.

Now 20 years old, ULA was created by combining the space launch businesses of defense contractors Boeing and Lockheed Martin. ULA was a major contributor to NASA and the Department of Defense until SpaceX came along and started winning contracts.

One of Bruno’s major responsibilities during his time at ULA was overseeing the development of the next generation rocket, the Vulcan. The mission had two main goals: to help ULA join forces with SpaceX, and to reduce the US government’s reliance on Russian rockets to get to space.

Vulcan used several parts from previous ULA rocket programs such as the Atlas and Delta in an attempt to keep costs down, even as it bet on Blue Origin to supply the engines. The project was delayed a lot before it happened it finally took off for the first time in 2024 – a whole decade after development began.

At the same time, SpaceX became a world leader, winning government contracts and carrying out several special projects.

ULA’s Vulcan rocket has been discovered customers at Amazon (for its Leo satellites) and the origin of Astrobotic space. And the company checking that the rockets are reusableor even airing the proposed changes would take the burden of paying for the space.

“It has been a great privilege to lead ULA in its transformation and bring the Vulcan into service. My work here is complete and I will continue to promote ULA,” Bruno said. said the post on X.

ULA has named former CEO John Elbon as interim CEO as the company searches for a replacement.