
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.
After nearly 12 years leading the United Launch Alliance (ULA), its chief Tory Bruno is stepping down from the U.S. rocket launch provider to pursue "another opportunity," the company announced this week.
What's that new opportunity? We're not sure yet, but it's guaranteed to be "Something interesting," Bruno wrote on social media after the Dec. 22 announcement.
Bruno took the reigns as ULA president and CEO in August 2014, overseeing the company, a collaboration between Lockheed Martin and Boeing, as it launched its Atlas V rockets and retired its Delta rocket family. He oversaw the development of new booster, the Vulcan Centaur rocket, which ULA plans to use as a workhorse vehicle.
During Bruno's term, ULA fought to contend with launch competitor SpaceX, which successfully landed a Falcon 9 booster for the first time in 2015 to lower costs through reusability. SpaceX now regularly launches and lands Falcon 9 rockets and has flown over 160 times this year. ULA eventually hopes to recover and reuse only part of the Vulcan rocket, its BE-4 first stage engines built by Blue Origin.
"It has been a great privilege to lead ULA through its transformation and to bring Vulcan into service. My work here is now complete and I will be cheering ULA on," Bruno wrote on X.
"Finished the mission I came to do," he added. "Great people. Great rocket. New things coming."
In a statement, Robert Lightfoot and Kay Sears, the ULA board chairs for Lockheed Martin and Boeing, respectively, thanked Bruno for over a decade of service.
"We are grateful for Tory’s service to ULA and the country, and we thank him for his leadership," Lightfoot and Sears wrote in the statement.
ULA's board has appointed Boeing veteran John Elbon as interim CEO as the search for a new leader begins.
"We have the greatest confidence in John to continue strengthening ULA’s momentum while the board proceeds with finding the next leader of ULA," Lihtfoot and Sears wrote.
LATEST POSTS
- 1
Arctic is again the hottest it's been in 125 years, with record-low sea ice, NOAA report says - 2
True to life Authenticity d: A Survey of \Certifiable Stories\ Narrative - 3
3 moms, 3 countries, 1 very familiar problem: Why child care costs still don't add up for families - 4
Massive supernova explosion may have created a binary black hole - 5
Israel reports first missile fire from Yemen since start of Iran war
Moscow: Russia well-positioned to withstand oil market shocks
Early diagnosis leads King Charles to scale back cancer treatment in the new year
Artemis II's moon-bound astronauts capture Earth's brilliant blue beauty as they leave it behind
Tata Motors, BMW among automakers set to raise prices in India
Support Your Body: A Manual for Smart dieting and Sustenance
12 times rockets and spacecraft crashed and burned in 2025
Wonderful Sea shores All over the Planet
New research reveals urban raccoons across the US show early signs of domestication
Activist vessel collides with krill trawler in Antarctic confrontation













