United Launch Alliance Joins Commercial Spaceflight Federation

The company that merged the Atlas and Delta rocket families is joining the advocacy group that supports President Obama's plan to shift responsibility for launching astronauts from NASA to the private sector.

United Launch Alliance president and CEO Michael Gass said the linkage with the Commercial Spaceflight Federation "is a natural fit for us."

The company "has close business relationships with many members of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, including Bigelow Aerospace, Sierra Nevada Corporation, Space Florida, and XCOR Aerospace," Gass said, adding that ULA is taking part in NASA's Commercial Crew Development Program.

“United Launch Alliance is excited to offer our proven Atlas V and Delta IV launch vehicles to potential commercial crew providers, many of whom are members of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. We look forward to the day when astronauts are flying to low Earth orbit onboard commercial vehicles such as Atlas and Delta. And the track record of success for Atlas V and Delta IV shows that commercial spaceflight can and will be conducted safely.”

Federation chairman Mark Sirangelo, an executive with Sierra Nevada Corp., called ULA "innovative and entrepreneurially minded" and said the group is "proud to work with ULA to achieve our common goals."

With the addition of ULA and its 4,000 employees, the federation now includes the nation's most experienced launch providers, said group president Bretton Alexander.

"United Launch Alliance and its heritage companies have been trusted by the U.S. government to deliver the Nation’s most-critical national security payloads to orbit for more than 50 years. The proven Atlas and Delta launch systems have an important role to play in providing commercial crew transportation for NASA and other customers.”