Tory Bruno Steps Down as ULA CEO following impressive tenure

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United Launch Alliance (ULA), jointly owned by Boeing and Lockheed Martin, announced today that President and CEO Tory Bruno has resigned after nearly 12 years at the helm.

Bruno, a veteran aerospace engineer and executive, is departing to pursue another opportunity, according to a statement from ULA Board Chairs Robert Lightfoot (Lockheed Martin) and Kay Sears (Boeing). Bruno has not yet noted what that new opportunity entails.

“We are grateful for Tory’s service to ULA and the country, and we thank him for his leadership,” the chairs said in a joint release.

Effective immediately, John Elbon has been appointed Interim CEO, with Mark Peller named as the new Chief Operating Officer. The board expressed full confidence in Elbon’s expertise to maintain momentum, particularly as ULA approaches critical milestones with its next-generation Vulcan Centaur rocket.

Bruno’s departure marks the end of an era for ULA, which he joined in August 2014 amid intense challenges. At the time, the company faced mounting competition from SpaceX’s reusable Falcon 9, skyrocketing launch costs, and congressional pressure to phase out reliance on Russian RD-180 engines for the Atlas V rocket.

Bruno, then a rising star at Lockheed Martin, was tapped to steer the joint venture through these turbulent waters.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and pursued advanced studies at institutions including Harvard and Santa Clara University.

Bruno began his career at Lockheed Martin in 1984, quickly ascending from engineer to executive. He held key roles in missile defense and strategic systems, including vice president and program manager for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor and vice president and general manager of Strategic and Missile Defense Systems.

His portfolio spanned critical national security programs and included a tenure with the X-33/VentureStar program at Lockheed’s Skunk Works, specifically on the XRS-2200 Linear Aerospike engine and its Thrust Vector Control (TVC).
“I worked on X33 Venture Star. SSTO (Single Stage To Orbit),” noted Bruno in a 2023 X post. “Require(d) a very high launch tempo of, preferably, dedicated payloads. Cool linear aerospike engine. A competitor had a different approach called Delta Clipper. Both canceled because the market for that application disappeared.”

When Bruno arrived at ULA, the company was a reliable but costly provider of government launches. Under his leadership, ULA maintained an impressive mission success on orbital insertions across Atlas V, Delta IV, and the emerging Vulcan Centaur. He oversaw dozens of launches supporting NASA science missions, U.S. military payloads, and commercial satellites.

Perhaps Bruno’s most notable achievement during his ULA days was championing the Vulcan Centaur, a new heavy-lift rocket designed to replace Atlas V and Delta IV while ending dependence on Russian engines.

Powered by Blue Origin’s American-made BE-4 engines, Vulcan represented ULA’s pivot toward affordability and innovation in an increasingly competitive market. Despite delays, the rocket’s development positioned ULA to compete in a rejuvenated market, securing billions in U.S. Space Force contracts.

Bruno also modernized ULA’s culture and even its public image, as he became known for an actively engaging presence on social media, sharing technical insights and advocating for space exploration, along with fun claims that he was leaking pad cam views during launch replay posts. Bruno was also partial to posting “bullseye” graphics about ULA’s orbital insertion accuracy.

He also has held a long-term vision of enabling cislunar economies and sustained human presence in space. However, that architecture has yet to leave PowerPoint presentations to become a reality.

As ULA searches for a permanent CEO, the company remains focused on upcoming Vulcan missions. ULA has been busy expanding production and launch site capability for an increasing launch cadence, both at Cape Canaveral and at Vandenberg on the West Coast.

The post Tory Bruno Steps Down as ULA CEO following impressive tenure appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.



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