United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno resigned after 12 years leading the Boeing–Lockheed joint venture. John Elbon has been named interim president and CEO while the board seeks a permanent replacement. During Bruno’s tenure ULA completed the long-delayed Vulcan rocket program, secured a major launch contract with Amazon’s Project Kuiper, and improved its recent launch tempo despite a backlog of national security missions. The company expects a mixture of remaining Atlas V flights and increasing Vulcan availability into early 2026.
Tory Bruno Resigns After 12 Years As ULA CEO; John Elbon Named Interim Leader
United Launch Alliance (ULA) announced that President and CEO Tory Bruno has resigned effective Monday to "pursue another opportunity." John Elbon has been named interim president and CEO while the joint Boeing–Lockheed Martin board searches for a permanent successor.
Board Statement. In a joint release, ULA Lockheed Martin Board Chair Robert Lightfoot and ULA Boeing Board Chair Kay Sears thanked Bruno for his service:
"We are grateful for Tory’s service to ULA and the country, and we thank him for his leadership. We have the greatest confidence in John to continue strengthening ULA’s momentum while the board proceeds with finding the next leader of ULA."
Bruno’s Tenure and Challenges. Bruno joined ULA in 2014 after a long engineering and leadership career at Lockheed Martin. He led the company through a period of intensifying competition from SpaceX, multiple workforce reductions, and a major technology transition as ULA moved from legacy vehicles to the new Vulcan rocket.
Vulcan Program and National Security Work. Under Bruno, ULA completed a protracted production campaign for the Vulcan rocket. Vulcan flew its first mission in 2024 and received Department of Defense certification for national security launches this past spring. The vehicle completed its first certified national security mission, USSF-106, in August — roughly three years later than originally planned — leaving a backlog of more than 20 national security missions that ULA is working through.
Commercial Wins and Launch Tempo. A key commercial win during Bruno’s tenure was a major launch agreement with Amazon’s Project Kuiper (now often called Amazon LEO). ULA has flown four Amazon missions this year and holds contracts for another 42 launches to help build a constellation expected to exceed 3,200 satellites as Amazon competes with SpaceX’s Starlink.
Although ULA fell short of Bruno’s forecast of 12 missions in 2025, the company increased its annual activity compared with recent years, recording six successful flights this year versus five in 2024 and three in 2023. Historically, ULA — formed in 2006 as a Boeing–Lockheed Martin joint venture — logged its busiest year in 2009 with 16 launches.
Outlook. ULA still plans to fly missions using about 10 remaining Atlas V rockets and expects a steady supply of Vulcan vehicles for launches targeted in early 2026. As Bruno put it earlier this year:
"I can fly more if satellites show up, and obviously, if there aren’t any satellites, we’ll fly less. I literally have a stockpile. … I would like to be hitting our baseline tempo before the end of the year. So that would be two a month, and then next year it’ll be more like 20."
Final Note. After the announcement, Bruno posted on X: "Thank you for the opportunity to lead this amazing team. They have put ULA in a great position to do important things for our customers and nation." With an interim leader in place, ULA now faces a leadership search as it balances commercial commitments, a national security backlog, and the ramp-up of its Vulcan fleet.
