WE RECENTLY RETURNED from the 2016 Farnborough Air Show, where industry executives get tours of the wares on offer from the likes of Boeing, Airbus, Lockheed, Embraer, and others, reconnect with their peers over daily coffee and nightly cocktails, and do business – to the tune this year of $35 billion in orders for Airbus and another $27 billion for Boeing, and plenty more for others.
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UNITED LAUNCH ALLIANCE (ULA) had a good first act. For nearly a decade, this 50:50 JV between Boeing and Lockheed Martin served as market maker and monopoly provider of space launch services to U.S. government customers including the Department of Defense (DoD), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). In 2014, it was awarded an $11 billion sole-source contract by the U.S. Air Force for 36 rocket cores – hardware enough to cover 28 launches. But with almost 10 years, 100 missions, and a near perfect success rate behind it, ULA is confronting industry disruption and a future full of uncertainty. Going forward, the JV’s second act will likely be defined by its ability to navigate a full-blown strategic transformation. In this, ULA is not alone.
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