When the next Delta 4 rocket flies in July, as well as all future ones to come, the enhanced RS-68A main engine will power the boosters off the launch pad.

Tory Bruno has held the top post at United Launch Alliance for a little more than a year, and it has been anything but business as usual for the top U.S. launch provider. He recently spoke with reporters at ULA’s Cape Canaveral launch control center.

After considering canceling a planned full-duration test-firing of the Space Launch System’s core stage in Mississippi ahead of the heavy-lift rocket’s first flight, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced this week that the agency will press ahead with the test next year, citing safety and reliability benefits for future astronauts riding on the launcher on missions to the moon.