Nations Space Launch Company United Launch Alliance Visit Los Fresnos

Harlingen Site Lead for United Launch Alliance, Mr. Tim Piller was the guest speaker at the Chamber of Commerce general meeting on Thursday, October 15, 2015.  Mr. Piller began his presentation with a captivating Youtube video form United Launch Alliance titled “Launch, Deliver, Repeat”

The video gave a glimpse of the many missions that the nation’s premier launch services provider executes on a regular basis.  It also brought to mind what we may expect to see from ULA’s competitor SpaceX once launching begins from it’s Boca Chica launch site in the near future.  ULA launches payloads to space aboard its Atlas and Delta Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELV).

Payloads include weather, communications and national security satellites and launch missions to further science and exploration of the universe.  Payloads can range in cost from 400 million to a billion and a half and weigh as much as 20 tons, the equivalent of a large school bus.  ULA saw it’s beginning in Harlingen at the Valley International Airport (VIA) in 1987 as General Dynamics and after a series of changes is now United Launch Alliance as of 2006.  For the past 28 years ULA has assembled it’s signature product, the payload fairing, in Harlingen.

ULA employs residents of the RGV and it’s first choice of prospective technicians come from local education/training entities such as T.S.T.C., U.T.R.G.V. and T.S.C.  It is also important to note ULA’s community service and support of events such as Relay for Life, Toys for Tots, Stuff the Bus, and many more.  For more information about Harlingen’s diamond in the rough please visit http://www.ulalaunch.com/