March 11 – ULA, the Lockheed Martin (LMT, Financial), and Boeing (BA, Financial) joint venture received strong criticism from the U.S. Air Force. Bloomberg obtained an assessment that placed ULA as the worst program in its category of military acquisition projects in a recent evaluation. ULAs performance in satellite launches received an unfavorable evaluation from the service because of difficulties arising from its Vulcan rocket and BE?4 engine development. The two successful certification flights ULA conducted during 2024 were followed by serious concerns when their planned launches from the previous year kept getting delayed.
The Air Force is exploring switching Vulcan missions to other providers since these issues jeopardize the launch timetable. CEO Elon Musk of SpaceX contends for public spending cuts at the Pentagon as the company emerges as the principal viable option. The inability to launch two military satellites resulted in financial consequences for the ULA organization. The evaluation by experts demonstrates that ULA faces increasing challenges in fulfilling its responsibilities to launch national security missions.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.