Author Topic: United Launch Alliance Assumes Marketing and Sales for Atlas V Commercial Launch  (Read 8101 times)

Offline ethan829

Nice to see ULA becoming increasingly independent.

http://www.ulalaunch.com/ula-assumes-marketing-and-sales-for-atlas-v.aspx
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Centennial, Colo. (Jan. 22, 2018) – United Launch Alliance (ULA) announced today that it has assumed responsibility for the marketing and sales of Atlas V, the world’s most reliable launch vehicle, from Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services. In addition to performing all of the operational activities related to Atlas V launch services, as ULA has done since its formation in 2006, ULA now has the full authority to market and sell Atlas V launch services to commercial customers.


“ULA has undergone a tremendous transformation over the last two years, and with our innovative techniques, coupled with world-class reliability and schedule certainty, we are well positioned to offer Atlas V launch services to our current and potential commercial customers,” said Tory Bruno, ULA’s president and CEO. “ULA will serve as a business partner committed to building a launch strategy that maximizes the commercial provider’s profits and positions them above their competition.”


ULA leads the industry in mission and schedule reliability, building on a successful heritage of nearly six decades. When it absolutely, positively has to get to space safely and on time, ULA gets the job done. ULA’s Atlas V has flown 75 missions with 100 percent mission success, from numerous GPS satellites flying today to exploring the solar system and beyond, and has the highest reliability with the lowest insurance rates in the industry. ULA offers extensive experience from a long heritage of launching communications and Earth imaging commercial missions for customers around the world.   


“The value of a launch is a lot more than its price tag. ULA Atlas V launch services help customers capture savings and added value by delivering spacecraft to orbit earlier, extending mission life, and providing unsurpassed schedule certainty,” said Bruno. “Lockheed Martin’s Commercial Launch Services organization served its customers well with a flawless record of mission success and strong customer partnerships for more than a decade. We look forward to continuing that legacy of performance, service and precision.”


Tom Tshudy, ULA’s vice president and general counsel, will lead the new global commercial sales organization. Before joining ULA, Tshudy served as senior vice president and general counsel for International Launch Services (ILS) as well as vice president and general counsel at Lockheed Martin while ILS was a subsidiary to sell and market launch services utilizing the Atlas II, III and V launch vehicles.


With more than a century of combined heritage, ULA is the nation’s most experienced and reliable launch service provider. ULA has successfully delivered more than 120 satellites to orbit that aid meteorologists in tracking severe weather, unlock the mysteries of our solar system, provide critical capabilities for troops in the field and enable personal device-based GPS navigation.


For more information on ULA, visit the ULA website at www.ulalaunch.com, or call the ULA Launch Hotline at 1-877-ULA-4321 (852-4321). Join the conversation at www.facebook.com/ulalaunch, twitter.com/ulalaunch and instagram.com/ulalaunch.

Offline Galactic Penguin SST

Does that mean that LMLCS will no longer exist?  ::)
Astronomy & spaceflight geek penguin. In a relationship w/ Space Shuttle Discovery. Current Priority: Chasing the Chinese Spaceflight Wonder Egg & A Certain Chinese Mars Rover

Offline Sknowball

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Does that mean that LMLCS will no longer exist?  ::)

Given that the only other rocket they marketed was Athena and they withdrew that from the market last year , I suspect this is probably the end of LMLCS.  Also allows consolidation of Atlas and Vulcan marketing/sales and keeps Atlas V from competing with Vulcan.

Offline AncientU

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With Delta II and Delta IV-M going away this year, it also tidies up the asset for sale.
What became of the name change?
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Offline Lar

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Does that mean that LMLCS will no longer exist?  ::)

Given that the only other rocket they marketed was Athena and they withdrew that from the market last year , I suspect this is probably the end of LMLCS.  Also allows consolidation of Atlas and Vulcan marketing/sales and keeps Atlas V from competing with Vulcan.

Sometimes in these things there will be a transfer of personnel (if the old org was doing good work). And sometimes not.
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Offline russianhalo117

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Does that mean that LMLCS will no longer exist?  ::)
That is hard to say since Rocket Lab USA is majority funded by LM in exchange for the ability to market RL Electron launches.
« Last Edit: 01/22/2018 07:29 pm by russianhalo117 »

Offline Sknowball

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Does that mean that LMLCS will no longer exist?  ::)
That is hard to say since Rocket Lab USA is majority funded by LM in exchange for the ability to market RL Electron launches.

I knew about the LM investment in RL, but had not heard it involved rights to market Electron launches (the original Reuters story makes no mention).  The LMCLS website only mentions Atlas and Athena.

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Offline Jim

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With Delta II and Delta IV-M going away this year, it also tidies up the asset for sale.
What became of the name change?

There is no asset for sate.

Offline russianhalo117

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With Delta II and Delta IV-M going away this year, it also tidies up the asset for sale.
What became of the name change?
the name change is likely dependent on LMCS equivalent Boeing Launch Services (BLS) also handing over its authority to ULA, which AFAIK hasn't happened yet.

Offline TrevorMonty

Does that mean that LMLCS will no longer exist?  ::)
That is hard to say since Rocket Lab USA is majority funded by LM in exchange for the ability to market RL Electron launches.
LM are behind launching Electron from Scotland site. Now that Electron is available may push on with this site.

Offline AncientU

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With Delta II and Delta IV-M going away this year, it also tidies up the asset for sale.
What became of the name change?
the name change is likely dependent on LMCS equivalent Boeing Launch Services (BLS) also handing over its authority to ULA, which AFAIK hasn't happened yet.

But what is BLS going to market?
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Offline russianhalo117

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With Delta II and Delta IV-M going away this year, it also tidies up the asset for sale.
What became of the name change?
the name change is likely dependent on LMCS equivalent Boeing Launch Services (BLS) also handing over its authority to ULA, which AFAIK hasn't happened yet.

But what is BLS going to market?
BLS markets DII and DIV, which I believe its last known mission on DIV was Orion EFT-1. BLS was originally going to market Vulcan in parallel with LMCS flying out Atlas V.

Offline AncientU

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With Delta II and Delta IV-M going away this year, it also tidies up the asset for sale.
What became of the name change?
the name change is likely dependent on LMCS equivalent Boeing Launch Services (BLS) also handing over its authority to ULA, which AFAIK hasn't happened yet.

But what is BLS going to market?
BLS markets DII and DIV, which I believe its last known mission on DIV was Orion EFT-1. BLS was originally going to market Vulcan in parallel with LMCS flying out Atlas V.

So, is it reasonable to assume that ULA will market all commercial launches and the parents none?
"If we shared everything [we are working on] people would think we are insane!"
-- SpaceX friend of mlindner

Offline Steven Pietrobon

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This looks like a good move. Cutting out the middle man should help reduce costs with perhaps ULA being a bit more aggressive in going after commercial launches.
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Offline russianhalo117

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With Delta II and Delta IV-M going away this year, it also tidies up the asset for sale.
What became of the name change?
the name change is likely dependent on LMCS equivalent Boeing Launch Services (BLS) also handing over its authority to ULA, which AFAIK hasn't happened yet.

But what is BLS going to market?
BLS markets DII and DIV, which I believe its last known mission on DIV was Orion EFT-1. BLS was originally going to market Vulcan in parallel with LMCS flying out Atlas V.

So, is it reasonable to assume that ULA will market all commercial launches and the parents none?
It is hoped so but we won't fully know until transition is completed. My take on the LMCS handover to ULA is that LMCS along with BLS will be dissolved or spun off by their parent companies and merged together into ULA as a new division.

Offline AncientU

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And then, after consolidation within ULA and the Block Buy/ELC cash flow has petered out, will ULA be spun off?

Cash value-wise, the best potential offer probably was AJR at $2B.  Valuations of ArianeSpace are in the half billion dollar range, probably comparable to today's ULA.

I know Motley isn't the 'best' reference, but the comparables with ArianeSpace are interesting fact.

Quote
How Much Is Boeing and Lockheed's "United Launch Alliance" Really Worth?
Quote
What is important is this: In reporting last week on the progress of the EC's review, SpaceNews.com mentioned the value of ASL's proposed acquisition. Specifically, it said ASL is offering to pay $166 million for a 35% stake in Arianespace, and this price seems to be A-OK with the seller. This implies that ASL is valuing Arianespace's launch operations at about $475 million.

Now here's where things get really interesting.

According to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, Arianespace does just over $1.5 billion in annual revenue -- about 14% less than Boeing and Lockheed Martin's ULA joint venture does. Yet the value of Arianespace has now been established at just $475 million -- 76% less than the $2 billion that Aerojet Rocketdyne offered to pay for ULA.

Put another way, Aerojet offered to pay 1.1 times ULA's sales for the company, and ULA rejected that price as insufficient. But ASL offered to pay a mere 0.31 times sales for Arianespace, and the seller jumped at the offer.

When ULA's sales drop to half of today's revenue or whatever after Block Buy/ELC, will be hard to get value up to a half billion.
« Last Edit: 01/23/2018 12:52 pm by AncientU »
"If we shared everything [we are working on] people would think we are insane!"
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Offline Jim

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And then, after consolidation within ULA

what consolidation?

Offline Jim

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With Delta II and Delta IV-M going away this year, it also tidies up the asset for sale.
What became of the name change?
the name change is likely dependent on LMCS equivalent Boeing Launch Services (BLS) also handing over its authority to ULA, which AFAIK hasn't happened yet.

But what is BLS going to market?
BLS markets DII and DIV, which I believe its last known mission on DIV was Orion EFT-1. BLS was originally going to market Vulcan in parallel with LMCS flying out Atlas V.

So, is it reasonable to assume that ULA will market all commercial launches and the parents none?
It is hoped so but we won't fully know until transition is completed. My take on the LMCS handover to ULA is that LMCS along with BLS will be dissolved or spun off by their parent companies and merged together into ULA as a new division.

BLS and LMCLS were only 5-10 people each.  Not a big deal.  When LM left ILS, the people were just absorbed by LM and ULA.

Offline AncientU

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New article that puts some perspective on need for commercial marketing:
Quote
To stay competitive in the launch business, ULA courts commercial customers

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The only way ULA can stay competitive is by increasing its workload, and that requires growing its commercial business, said Marco Caceres, an industry analyst at the Teal Group.

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Thompson said reducing costs has been a “key concern” of Bruno. “ULA probably can’t match SpaceX on costs, but with a streamlined management structure and new launch technology, it can get close,” said Thompson, whose think tank is funded by major defense firms like Lockheed Martin and Boeing. “Some commercial customers are willing to pay a premium for ULA’s high reliability,” he said.”
http://spacenews.com/to-stay-competitive-in-the-launch-business-ula-courts-commercial-customers/

That is the question
« Last Edit: 01/25/2018 05:25 pm by AncientU »
"If we shared everything [we are working on] people would think we are insane!"
-- SpaceX friend of mlindner

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