Blue Origin names Tory Bruno to new national security group

Tory Bruno, the former chief executive officer and president of United Launch Alliance, will become the president of the new national security group at Blue Origin, the Jeff Bezos-founded space venture that is one of ULA’s biggest suppliers and rivals.

The company announced the move in a post on X. 

As head of the group, Bruno will oversee “the development of cutting-edge products, services, and technologies aimed at enhancing national security missions,” according to an internal email from Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp, seen by Bloomberg.

“We share a deep belief in supporting our nation with the best technology we can build,” Limp said in a statement. “Tory brings unmatched experience, and I’m confident he’ll accelerate our ability to deliver on that mission.”

Bruno’s hiring and the creation of the new team indicates Blue Origin is placing further emphasis on national security applications for its various rockets and space projects. Both ULA and Blue Origin are part of an elite group of rocket launch providers, including SpaceX, that are allowed to loft the most sensitive national security satellites for the US military.

Bruno’s resignation from ULA, a joint rocket venture between Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp., was announced on Dec. 22. He served in the role for nearly 12 years.

During his tenure leading ULA, Bruno oversaw the retirement and phasing out of the company’s older Delta and Atlas rockets, while spearheading the development of a new rocket called Vulcan. The new rocket, however, suffered from numerous delays and has struggled to ramp up its launch cadence after debuting in January 2024.

Blue Origin provides the main engines for Vulcan, while also serving as a competitor to ULA with its own New Glenn orbital rocket. While at ULA, Bruno led a joint partnership with Blue Origin in 2014 to develop the company’s BE-4 engines to be used in the Vulcan rocket.

New Glenn, which will eventually be used for national security missions, launched its second mission in November. During that flight, the rocket’s main booster successfully landed on a floating barge in the ocean after takeoff.

Blue Origin is also transitioning its in-space systems business unit into the new national security group, according to Limp’s internal memo. The current head of the unit, Paul Ebertz, will now report to Bruno. 

The in-space systems group includes projects like Blue Ring, which aims to develop a versatile satellite that can do a diverse range of tasks in space, and the company’s efforts to build a new communications spacecraft that could orbit Mars.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com