Author Topic: ULA on layaway? — Sources say prominent US rocket-maker United Launch Alliance is up for sale  (Read 272 times)

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Online Elderberry

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ars TECHNICA by Eric Berger - 3/1/2023

 ULA on layaway? —Sources say prominent US rocket-maker United Launch Alliance is up for sale

The potential sale of ULA comes with many questions for a buyer.

One of the world's most important rocket companies, United Launch Alliance, may be sold later this year.

The potential sale has not been disclosed publicly, but three sources confirmed to Ars that potential buyers have been contacted about the opportunity. These sources said a deal is expected to be closed before the end of this year and that investment firm Morgan Stanley and consulting firm Bain & Company are managing the transaction.

The sale of United Launch Alliance, or ULA as it is known within the industry, would mark the end of an era that has lasted for nearly two decades. The company was officially formed in 2005 as part of a deal brokered by the US government, ensuring the military had access to both Atlas and Delta rockets to put national security satellites into space. To form ULA, Lockheed Martin and Boeing merged their launch businesses into a single company, each taking a 50 percent stake.

This union was profitable for both parent companies, as ULA held a monopoly on launching national security missions and, effectively, NASA science probes. In return for 100 percent mission success, ULA received large launch contracts and an approximately $1 billion annual subsidy from the US Department of Defense to maintain "launch readiness."

In response to a request for comment, Boeing released the following statement: "Consistent with our corporate practice, Boeing doesn’t comment on potential market rumors or speculation about financial activities."

Lockheed Martin issued a nearly identical response: "Consistent with our corporate practice, Lockheed Martin doesn’t comment on potential market rumors or speculation about financial activities.”

More: https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/03/sources-say-prominent-us-rocket-maker-united-launch-alliance-is-up-for-sale/

Offline Smokin Joe

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  • I was a "conspiracy theorist". Now I'm just right.
Don't worry, the Chinese will buy it.
How God must weep at humans' folly! Stand fast! God knows what he is doing!
Seventeen Techniques for Truth Suppression

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

C S Lewis