spacetoday.net: ULA selects new CEO

Posted: Wed, Aug 13, 2014, 9:12 AM ET (1312 GMT)
United Launch Alliance (ULA), the joint venture that manufactures Atlas and Delta rockets, announced Tuesday the surprise selection of a new president and CEO. ULA said that Tory Bruno would become president and CEO of the company effective immediately, replacing Michael Gass, who had held those positions since the formation of the joint venture in the mid-2000s. The company said that Bruno and Gass will "work collaboratively to ensure a smooth leadership transition" but offered no details on the reason or timing of the leadership change. Bruno was most recently vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin's Strategic and Missile Defense Systems business unit, which is involved with several military missile programs. ULA, created when Boeing and Lockheed Martin merged their separate launch vehicle programs, has faced increased pressure in recent years from companies like SpaceX, which is suing the US Air Force for a "block buy" launch contract it awarded to ULA for military satellite launches.