Heavy-Lift Boosters Winning More Business

When Boeing and Lockheed Martin joined forces in 2006 to create United Launch Alliance, the idea was for both companies to hedge their bets in regards to winning government contracts for their respective rocket programs. That may prove to have been a smart move for Boeing... as demand for its Delta II launch vehicle appears to be waning.

The Denver Business Journal reports ULA plans to restructure its Delta II medium-lift rocket program, ahead of what the company expects will be a drop in military and NASA contracts in 2009.

"We are working to operate more efficiently at lower launch rates so that when the current market rebounds, we will remain positioned to offer high reliability and competitively priced launch product to support the market's needs," said company CEO Michael Gass.

The company -- based in the Denver suburb of Littleton, CO -- has no immediate plans to discontinue Delta II launches. A separate company, Boeing Launch Services, handles commercial use of the Delta II; there are currently 16 Delta II launches scheduled through 2010.

Despite an enviable track record, however -- the Delta II has racked up 78 consecutive successful launches -- ULA's larger (Lockheed-sourced) Atlas II and Delta IV rockets are generating more government business, and ULA has been "reducing the program's facilities footprint" to compensate.

FMI: www.boeing.com, www.lockheed.com