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=== Tory Bruno era (2014 onward) ===
=== Tory Bruno era (2014 onward) ===
[[File:Boeing Orbital Flight Test Press Conference (NHQ201912200010).jpg|thumb|ULA CEO Tory Bruno at a NASA news conference in December 2019]]In a leadership change at ULA in August 2014, [[Tory Bruno]] assumed the CEO position, marking a new strategic direction for the company.<ref name="sn20140812">{{cite web |last=Gruss |first=Mike |date=2014-08-12 |title=United Launch Alliance Taps a Lockheed Executive To Replace CEO Gass |url=http://www.spacenews.com/article/launch-report/41575united-launch-alliance-taps-a-lockheed-executive-to-replace-ceo-gass |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140813201634/http://www.spacenews.com/article/launch-report/41575united-launch-alliance-taps-a-lockheed-executive-to-replace-ceo-gass |archive-date=13 August 2014 |access-date=2014-08-13 |website=SpaceNews}}</ref> Under Bruno's leadership, ULA was under pressure to reduce costs to better compete with SpaceX and its partially reusable rockets, replace its Russian-made RD-180 with more efficient western-made engines,<ref name="lat20141212">{{cite news |last1=Petersen |first1=Melody |date=2014-12-12 |title=Congress OKs bill banning purchases of Russian-made rocket engines |url=http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-russian-rocket-ban-20141213-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170307165553/http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-russian-rocket-ban-20141213-story.html |archive-date=2017-03-07 |access-date=2014-12-14 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |quote=Costs of launching military satellites has skyrocketed under contracts the Air Force has given to United Launch Alliance. The average cost for each launch using rockets from Boeing and Lockheed has soared to US$420 million, according to an analysis by the Government Accountability Office.}}</ref> and introduce a next-generation launch vehicle. The company's high cost to launch left the company with few commercial and civil satellite launch customers, and increasingly reliant on U.S. military and spy agency contracts.<ref name="Yahoo20150521">{{cite web |last=Shalal |first=Andrea |date=21 May 2015 |title=Lockheed-Boeing rocket venture needs commercial orders to survive |url=https://news.yahoo.com/lockheed-boeing-rocket-venture-needs-commercial-orders-survive-205416832--finance.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723052732/https://news.yahoo.com/lockheed-boeing-rocket-venture-needs-commercial-orders-survive-205416832--finance.html |archive-date=2015-07-23 |website=[[Yahoo! News]]}}</ref><ref name="dbj20141016">{{cite news |last=Avery |first=Greg |date=2014-10-16 |title=ULA plans new rocket, restructuring to cut launch costs in half |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/boosters_bits/2014/10/exclusive-ula-plans-a-new-rocket-restructuring-to.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315142232/http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/boosters_bits/2014/10/exclusive-ula-plans-a-new-rocket-restructuring-to.html |archive-date=2017-03-15 |access-date=2014-11-14 |newspaper=Denver Business Journal}}</ref> After the  [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014]], Congress passed a law in 2016 that prohibited the military from procuring additional launch services on vehicles that use the RD-180 engine after 2022.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Erwin |first=Sandra |date=19 August 2021 |title=National security launch in transition as Space Force waits for Vulcan |url=https://spacenews.com/national-security-launch-in-transition-as-space-force-waits-for-vulcan/ |access-date=16 June 2024 |work=Space News}}</ref>
[[File:Boeing Orbital Flight Test Press Conference (NHQ201912200010).jpg|thumb|ULA CEO Tory Bruno at a NASA news conference in December 2019]]In a leadership change at ULA in August 2014, [[Tory Bruno]] assumed the CEO position, marking a new strategic direction for the company.<ref name="sn20140812">{{cite web |last=Gruss |first=Mike |date=2014-08-12 |title=United Launch Alliance Taps a Lockheed Executive To Replace CEO Gass |url=http://www.spacenews.com/article/launch-report/41575united-launch-alliance-taps-a-lockheed-executive-to-replace-ceo-gass |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140813201634/http://www.spacenews.com/article/launch-report/41575united-launch-alliance-taps-a-lockheed-executive-to-replace-ceo-gass |archive-date=13 August 2014 |access-date=2014-08-13 |website=SpaceNews}}</ref> Under Bruno's leadership, ULA was under pressure to reduce costs to better compete with SpaceX and its partially reusable rockets, replace its Russian-made RD-180 with more efficient western-made engines,<ref name="lat20141212">{{cite news |last1=Petersen |first1=Melody |date=2014-12-12 |title=Congress OKs bill banning purchases of Russian-made rocket engines |url=http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-russian-rocket-ban-20141213-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170307165553/http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-russian-rocket-ban-20141213-story.html |archive-date=2017-03-07 |access-date=2014-12-14 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |quote=Costs of launching military satellites has skyrocketed under contracts the Air Force has given to United Launch Alliance. The average cost for each launch using rockets from Boeing and Lockheed has soared to US$420 million, according to an analysis by the Government Accountability Office.}}</ref> and introduce a next-generation launch vehicle. The company's high cost to launch left the company with few commercial and civil satellite launch customers, and increasingly reliant on U.S. military and spy agency contracts.<ref name="Yahoo20150521">{{cite web |last=Shalal |first=Andrea |date=21 May 2015 |title=Lockheed-Boeing rocket venture needs commercial orders to survive |url=https://news.yahoo.com/lockheed-boeing-rocket-venture-needs-commercial-orders-survive-205416832--finance.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723052732/https://news.yahoo.com/lockheed-boeing-rocket-venture-needs-commercial-orders-survive-205416832--finance.html |archive-date=2015-07-23 |website=[[Yahoo! News]]}}</ref><ref name="dbj20141016">{{cite news |last=Avery |first=Greg |date=2014-10-16 |title=ULA plans new rocket, restructuring to cut launch costs in half |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/boosters_bits/2014/10/exclusive-ula-plans-a-new-rocket-restructuring-to.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315142232/http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/boosters_bits/2014/10/exclusive-ula-plans-a-new-rocket-restructuring-to.html |archive-date=2017-03-15 |access-date=2014-11-14 |newspaper=Denver Business Journal}}</ref> After the  [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014]], Congress passed a law in 2016 that prohibited the military from procuring additional launch services on vehicles that use the RD-180 engine after 2022.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Erwin |first=Sandra |date=19 August 2021 |title=National security launch in transition as Space Force waits for Vulcan |url=https://spacenews.com/national-security-launch-in-transition-as-space-force-waits-for-vulcan/ |access-date=16 June 2024 |work=Space News}}</ref>


To reduce costs, ULA undertook a significant restructuring to streamlining operations by eventually consolidating from five launchpads to two,<ref name="aw201503172">{{cite web |last1=Butler |first1=Amy |date=17 February 2015 |title=New Rocket, White Tails In ULA's Long-Term Strategy |url=http://m.aviationweek.com/defense/new-rocket-white-tails-ula-s-long-term-strategy-0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170605195359/http://m.aviationweek.com/defense/new-rocket-white-tails-ula-s-long-term-strategy-0 |archive-date=5 June 2017 |access-date=22 February 2015 |website=Aviation Week |quote=[the] plan to field a new rocket engine with Blue Origin called the BE-4 is only step one of a larger strategic plan to take the company from a sole-source benefactor mentality to competing in a burgeoning commercial market ... The Atlas V and Delta IV ... both have a limited future.}}</ref> and reducing its workforce from 3,600 to 2,500 by 2018.<ref name="dbj20141016" /><ref name="spo20141114">{{cite web |last=Delgado |first=Laura M. |date=2014-11-14 |title=ULA's Tory Bruno Vows To Transform Company |url=http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/news/ulas-tory-bruno-vows-to-transform-company |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129030705/http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/news/ulas-tory-bruno-vows-to-transform-company |archive-date=2014-11-29 |access-date=2014-11-14 |website=Space Policy Online}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=About ULA |url=https://www.ulalaunch.com/about |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190210093402/https://www.ulalaunch.com/about |archive-date=10 February 2019 |access-date=17 April 2019 |website=United Launch Alliance}}</ref> To develop a new engine, ULA announced it would be partnering with [[Blue Origin]] to develop the [[BE-4]].<ref name="sn20140917">{{cite web |last1=Ferster |first1=Warren |date=2014-09-17 |title=ULA To Invest in Blue Origin Engine as RD-180 Replacement |url=http://www.spacenews.com/article/launch-report/41901ula-to-invest-in-blue-origin-engine-as-rd-180-replacement |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140918114236/http://www.spacenews.com/article/launch-report/41901ula-to-invest-in-blue-origin-engine-as-rd-180-replacement |archive-date=18 September 2014 |access-date=2014-12-13 |website=SpaceNews}}</ref> The company also announced the Vulcan, a next-generation launch vehicle, to be funded through a public-private partnership. Bruno believed the Vulcan would offer costs that would make it competitive in the commercial satellite sector.<ref name="dbj20141016" />
To reduce costs, ULA undertook a significant restructuring to streamlining operations by eventually consolidating from five launchpads to two,<ref name="aw201503172">{{cite web |last1=Butler |first1=Amy |date=17 February 2015 |title=New Rocket, White Tails In ULA's Long-Term Strategy |url=http://m.aviationweek.com/defense/new-rocket-white-tails-ula-s-long-term-strategy-0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170605195359/http://m.aviationweek.com/defense/new-rocket-white-tails-ula-s-long-term-strategy-0 |archive-date=5 June 2017 |access-date=22 February 2015 |website=Aviation Week |quote=[the] plan to field a new rocket engine with Blue Origin called the BE-4 is only step one of a larger strategic plan to take the company from a sole-source benefactor mentality to competing in a burgeoning commercial market ... The Atlas V and Delta IV ... both have a limited future.}}</ref> and reducing its workforce from 3,600 to 2,500 by 2018.<ref name="dbj20141016" /><ref name="spo20141114">{{cite web |last=Delgado |first=Laura M. |date=2014-11-14 |title=ULA's Tory Bruno Vows To Transform Company |url=http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/news/ulas-tory-bruno-vows-to-transform-company |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129030705/http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/news/ulas-tory-bruno-vows-to-transform-company |archive-date=2014-11-29 |access-date=2014-11-14 |website=Space Policy Online}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=About ULA |url=https://www.ulalaunch.com/about |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190210093402/https://www.ulalaunch.com/about |archive-date=10 February 2019 |access-date=17 April 2019 |website=United Launch Alliance}}</ref> To develop a new engine, ULA announced it would be partnering with [[Blue Origin]] to develop the [[BE-4]].<ref name="sn20140917">{{cite web |last1=Ferster |first1=Warren |date=2014-09-17 |title=ULA To Invest in Blue Origin Engine as RD-180 Replacement |url=http://www.spacenews.com/article/launch-report/41901ula-to-invest-in-blue-origin-engine-as-rd-180-replacement |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140918114236/http://www.spacenews.com/article/launch-report/41901ula-to-invest-in-blue-origin-engine-as-rd-180-replacement |archive-date=18 September 2014 |access-date=2014-12-13 |website=SpaceNews}}</ref> The company also announced the Vulcan, a next-generation launch vehicle, to be funded through a public-private partnership. Bruno believed the Vulcan would offer costs that would make it competitive in the commercial satellite sector.<ref name="dbj20141016" />
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