Earlier this month, United Launch Alliance (ULA) announced the company is establishing a new, customer program office to support Amazon’s Kuiper Program and named Chris Ellerhorst vice president of that endeavor.
Amazon’s goal for Project Kuiper is to make high-speed, low-latency broadband more affordable and accessible for unserved and underserved communities around the world. The initiative is designed to serve individual households, as well as schools, hospitals, businesses, government agencies, and other organizations operating in places without reliable broadband services.
“Following the contract announcement that ULA will be launching the majority of Amazon’s Kuiper constellation on nine Atlas and 38 Vulcan launch vehicles, we are standing up a new program office to support this customer,” said Tory Bruno, ULA’s president and CEO. “Chris’ extensive knowledge of customer requirements, his commitment to ensuring mission success as well as his unwavering dedication to serving the customer’s needs make him the perfect person to lead this new program office.”
“I am truly honored to lead ULA’s new program office for Project Kuiper,” said Ellerhorst. “Amazon is an important customer with an exciting and meaningful mission, and I look forward to bringing ULA’s unmatched launch service capabilities, industry-leading mission operations and assurance to this program – delivered by the most experienced workforce in the industry.”
Leveraging a legacy of 100 percent mission success launching over 145 missions to explore, protect and enhance our world, ULA is the nation’s most experienced and reliable launch service provider with world-leading reliability, schedule confidence, and mission optimization. The technologies we launch protect our country and troops in the battlefield, enable search and rescue, aid meteorologists in tracking severe weather, deliver cutting-edge commercial services, and expand our understanding of the Earth. We deliver value unmatched by any launch services company in the industry, a tireless drive to improve, and commitment to the extraordinary.