U.S. launch vehicle manufacturer United Launch Alliance (ULA) and Swiss RUAG announced a new strategic partnership in which RUAG will es...
U.S. launch vehicle manufacturer United Launch Alliance (ULA) and Swiss RUAG announced a new strategic partnership in which RUAG will establish a composites production capability located within ULA’s Decatur, Alabama, factory.
RUAG currently delivers carbon fiber structures for ULA’s Atlas launchers – the payload fairing for the larger Atlas V-500 launcher as well as the interstage adapter for the smaller Atlas V-400, from its Zurich and Emmon, Switzerland facility.
Beginning in 2018, the structures are to be produced in Decatur, where RUAG will also manufacture other carbon fibre structures for the new Vulcan launcher. RUAG will continue to manufacture the payload fairings for the European Ariane and Vega rockets in Switzerland.
ULA is a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing. ULA builds the Atlas and Delta launch vehicles, which have already been used for some 1,300 satellite missions. Customers include NASA and the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.
