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ULA to restructure its Delta II program

By Roger Fillion, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published January 30, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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United Launch Alliance announced a restructuring of its Delta II rocket program in the face of reduced launch demand, as the joint rocket venture prepares to shrink its overall work force and facilities.

At the same time, the Centennial-based ULA reaffirmed it has no plans to end the Delta II program. ULA appointed Boeing veteran Rick Navarro as its Delta II program director. He will oversee the Delta II revamp.

Recent reports and industry speculation have suggested that ULA - a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co. - would discontinue the Delta II program amid fewer U.S. Air Force and NASA launches.

"Contrary to some public reports, ULA is not backing away from Delta II because of the reduced market," Michael Gass, ULA's CEO, said in a release. "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 products to support the market needs."

ULA has said repeatedly it would cut its work force as it consolidates former Lockheed and Boeing employees and facilities. "We don't have any specific numbers as we sit here in 2008," spokeswoman Julie Andrews said. "We've always said ULA would be smaller."

The company's work force totals about 4,400, with about 1,700 in the Denver area.