
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
Travels to Dream Objections in Europe05.06.2024 - 2
'Stranger Things' made him a heartthrob. He left Hollywood anyway.05.01.2026 - 3
The most effective method to Explore Moral Situations in Brain research with Your Certification17.10.2023 - 4
'Israel has the right to continue its attacks,' Lebanese Foreign Minister announces14.01.2026 - 5
21 Things You Ought to Never Share with Your Childless Companion04.12.2015
The Best 20 Tunes that Characterized an Age
See the metal guts of a satellite in this wild X-ray view | Space photo of the day for Dec. 4, 2025
10 Hints for a Fruitful New employee screening
Gaza amputees struggle to rebuild lives as the enclave faces shortages of prosthetic limbs
Sean Penn lights up, Kylie Jenner gets A-list approval and 7 other moments you didn’t see at the Golden Globes
'Euphoria' releases Season 3 photos with Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney, Jacob Elordi and others: See them
6 Web-based Staple Help You Can Trust
America's Confided in Cooler in 2024
Judge sets $60K bond for Florida congresswoman accused of stealing $5M in COVID-19 funds












