United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing [BA] and Lockheed Martin [LMT], Aug. 12 said it was replacing chief executive Michael Gass “effective immediately” and named Tory Bruno as the new CEO.
ULA said that Gass was retiring after eight years at the helm and did not elaborate on his departure, saying only that he will work with Bruno “to ensure a smooth leadership transition and continued commitment to mission success.”
The government contracts ULA to launch military, weather, GPS and other satellites into space and has put 86 into orbit since its 2006 founding.
Bruno came to ULA from Lockheed Martin, where he most recently held the position of vice president and general manager of strategic and missile defense systems. He has previously worked on a number of space and missile programs, including the Navy’s Aegis program and the Pentagon’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) program.
“Tory is an ideal leader to take the reins at ULA. He’ll bring the same unwavering commitment to mission success that has been ULA’s hallmark, and will apply his proven track record of driving customer focus, innovation and affordability to shape ULA’s future,” said Rick Ambrose, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space Systems and a member of ULA’s board.
“We’re grateful for Mike’s leadership and contribution to ULA’s customers and employees, as well as the space industry as a whole,” said Craig Cooning, president of Boeing Network and Space Systems and also a ULA board member. “Tory understands the launch business as well as anyone and is well-qualified to ensure ULA keeps pace with changing customer needs and launch industry dynamics.”
DigitalGlobe, ULA Successfully Launch WorldView-3 Satellite; DigitalGlobe Announces WorldView-4
Launch provider United Launch Alliance (ULA) successfully lifted satellite imager DigitalGlobe’s [DGI] WorldView-3 spacecraft Aug. 13 from Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
Liftoff took place at 2:29 p.m. EDT. Launch took place on one of ULA’s Atlas V rockets, which are powered by the Russian-developed RD-180 first stage booster. This was the first commercial Atlas V launch to take place at Vandenberg, according to an Air Force statement.
WorldView-3 is the first multi-payload super-spectral, high-resolution commercial satellite for earth observations and advanced geospatial solutions, according to ULA. WorldView-3 will provide 31 cm panchromatic resolution, 1.24 meter multispectral resolution and 3.7 meter short-wave infrared (IR) with an average revisit time of less than 24 hours, according to the Air Force. This high spatial resolution multispectral satellite imagery will be used for civil government mapping, land use planning, disaster relief, exploration, defense, intelligence, visualization and simulation environments.
DigitalGlobe announced in late July that it was renaming its GeoEye-2 satellite WorldView-4 and moving up the launch of the spacecraft to mid-2016 to “meet demand from DigitalGlobe’s Direct Access and other commercial customers.” The company said a significant catalyst for this decision was the Commerce Department’s recent decision to allow DigitalGlobe to sell imagery with resolution of up to 25 cm. DigitalGlobe said WorldView-4 will provide customers with access to 30 cm resolution imagery, the highest resolution currently available.
DigitalGlobe took possession of GeoEye-2 from GeoEye when it acquired the company in 2013. ULA is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Boeing [BA]. The RD-180 is developed by NPO Energomash and is distributed in the United States by RD AMROSS, a joint venture of NPO Energomash and Pratt & Whitney of United Technologies Corp. [UTX].