Tory Bruno at a NASA press conference in 2024. Photo: NASA/Joel Kowsky

Tory Bruno is to be the new head of the national security division of Blue Origin, owned by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos and a top competitor to SpaceX in the launch business. For nearly 12 years, Bruno had been the CEO of United Launch Alliance (ULA), which announced his resignation on December 22.

ULA is a Boeing–Lockheed Martin joint venture that once dominated military launch with Atlas and Delta rockets but now faces the ascension of the significantly cheaper SpaceX Falcon 9. Trends point to the increasing use of reusable or partially reusable rockets, including Falcon 9, Rocket Lab’s Electron, and Blue Origin’s New Shepard.

Blue Origin’s BE-4 engine powers the company’s New Glenn rocket and the first stage of ULA’s Vulcan Centaur, which had its military debut in August for the U.S. Space Force’s USSF-106 mission. For ULA, BE-4 replaces the Russian RD-180, previously carried on the Atlas V.

For the last several years, stock analysts have said that ULA is a prime candidate for acquisition by Blue Origin and other space companies, including Sierra Space.

“Welcome Tory,” Bezos posted on X on December 26. “Gradatim Ferociter!” The latter is Bezos’ Blue Origin motto — a Latin phrase meaning, “Step by step, fiercely.”

“Thanks, Jeff,” Bruno responded. “We are going to do important work together. Thank you for your confidence in me.”

Blue Origin is led by CEO Dave Limp, a former Amazon executive who served as the lead for Amazon’s satellite constellation.

Last month, the New Glenn heavy launch rocket had its second certification flight for the Space Force National Security Space Launch program.

Certification of New Glenn would give the Space Force new options for heavy launch, as the service has relied on SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket since the retirement of the ULA Delta IV Heavy last year.

This story was first published by Defense Daily