Tory Bruno seems cool, and my impression is that he's been held back by a conservative, risk-averse culture in the ULA board that really only worked until SpaceX and other competitors proved themselves.
ULA is stuck with SLS, which had its high-level design micromanaged by Congress in a way that guaranteed it will fail (at everything except collecting government funding). It makes sense that Bruno is jumping ship shortly before the reckoning comes for SLS, to a company where success is possible.
Boeing has the contract for SLS, not ULA. Boeing owns 50% of ULA, with Lockheed Martin owning the other 50%. But SLS is a Boeing product not a ULA one. ULA's main rocket now is the Vulcan, with a few more Atlas V launches left.
There’s a great “Smarter Every Day” video on how rockets are made and the guest host was Tory Bruno.
https://youtu.be/o0fG_lnVhHw
Two things I recall from this video from years ago
1. Tory really seemed to be a true expert. Not a typical “CEO”.
2. Seems like a genuinely nice guy, see this moment when Tory recognized Dustin’s dad
https://youtu.be/Bh7Xf3Ox7K8?t=476
Tory Bruno seems cool, and my impression is that he's been held back by a conservative, risk-averse culture in the ULA board that really only worked until SpaceX and other competitors proved themselves.
ULA is stuck with SLS, which had its high-level design micromanaged by Congress in a way that guaranteed it will fail (at everything except collecting government funding). It makes sense that Bruno is jumping ship shortly before the reckoning comes for SLS, to a company where success is possible.
Boeing has the contract for SLS, not ULA. Boeing owns 50% of ULA, with Lockheed Martin owning the other 50%. But SLS is a Boeing product not a ULA one. ULA's main rocket now is the Vulcan, with a few more Atlas V launches left.
Scott Manley made a comment about him leaving ULA in his recent video and it sounded like Tory Bruno made a good mark on the company.
https://youtu.be/G6OB3pViYEM
Getting that sweet sweet never-ending DOD moneygun to go brrrrrrrr.