United Launch Services, a subsidiary of Centennial, Colo.-based joint-venture rocket firm United Launch Alliance, won a $208 million U.S. Air Force contract on May 22 to configure its Atlas V rocket.
The contract, under the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program, involves United Launch Services providing launch vehicle configuration of an Atlas V 551 with an additional solid rocket booster.
Work will be performed in Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Centennial, Colo., and Decatur, Ala. The contract has a Sept. 30, 2019, completion date.
United Launch Alliance LLC is a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) and The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA). The firm tends to launch its rockets often from Cape Canaveral, as its lands plenty of satellite contracts from the U.S. Department of Defense.
Military contracts contribute to the local economy in the form of jobs and subcontractor opportunities, and Central Florida is a major player when it comes to defense contracts.
The region snags about $4 billion in government contracts each year because the nation’s Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines simulation operations are based in Central Florida Research Park. That work helps make Orlando the modeling, simulation and training capital of the world, according to the Orlando Economic Development Commission.