United Launch Alliance

Atlas 5 to launch commercial space habitat for Bigelow Aerospace

April 11, 2016 Justin Ray

The maker of inflatable technology for a commercial space station will use a top-of-the-line Atlas 5 rocket with a stretched nose cone to hoist the first habitat into Earth orbit in 2020.

SpaceX hopes to sell used Falcon 9 boosters for as low as $40 million

March 31, 2016 Stephen Clark

SpaceX intends to cut the price of a Falcon 9 rocket launch by up to 30 percent when flying with reused first stage boosters, an achievement the company still hopes to demonstrate before the end of the year, SpaceX’s president said recently.

United Launch Alliance narrowing lists of suspects in rocket anomaly

March 31, 2016 Justin Ray

The detective work into the Atlas 5 rocket’s first stage performance trouble during the Cygnus cargo ship launch a week ago has implicated the fuel system as the likely culprit for using up the liquid oxygen supply too quickly.

Photos: Cygnus goes from Cape Canaveral to the space station

March 26, 2016 Justin Ray

This collection of official NASA photographs captures the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket rolling to the pad on Monday, successfully blasting off Tuesday and the Cygnus freighter arriving at the International Space Station on Saturday morning.

Videos: Preparing Atlas 5 and Cygnus for trip to space station

March 25, 2016 Justin Ray

These narrated videos show the pre-launch preparations that readied the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket and the Orbital ATK Cygnus commercial cargo-delivery spacecraft for flight and rolling to Complex 41 for liftoff to the International Space Station.

Reviewers approve early design work on new Vulcan rocket

March 24, 2016 Justin Ray

Work to create a new all-American rocket, the United Launch Alliance Vulcan-Centaur, has passed its first major hurdle for its first flight in three years, officials announced Thursday.

Pentagon opens investigation into contracts with ULA

March 24, 2016 Stephen Clark

The U.S. Defense Department’s internal watchdog has opened a probe into whether the Pentagon’s contracts with United Launch Alliance were properly awarded after a former ULA executive implied the government rigged a recent procurement in favor of the company.