DECATUR, Ala. (WHNT) — United Launch Alliance (ULA) manufactures its heavy-lift rockets in a plant in Decatur.
The company’s CEO, Tory Bruno, invited a News 19 crew inside their 1.6 million square foot rocket factory to explain how ULA is planning for the future of space travel.
Sitting inside the facility is the last Atlas V that will be manufactured in Decatur. After decades of launches, ULA is retiring the Delta IV and is on its final launches of the Atlas. They will be replaced by the Vulcan.
“The Vulcan is a larger, much more powerful rocket,” Bruno said.
He also said the rocket is more versatile than its predecessors.
“With the solid rocket motors, we can add or subtract from Vulcan,” Bruno said. “We have really kind of like four different first stages. We can have zero to four or six solids.”
The rockets can carry really heavy payloads. The Vulcan is constructed in Decatur, beginning as sheets of specialized aluminum and stainless steel.
ULA has automated many of its processes, changing the type of work its employees are doing.
“You don’t develop a new heavy class space launch vehicle but every decade or two, and when you do that, is your opportunity to refresh the technology,” Bruno said.
The new technology includes the incorporation of artificial intelligence, which is used to assist human workers. A Vulcan will require thousands of welds.
“We have at least two, often three people that will look at every weld to make sure they’re good,” Bruno said. “That’s a lot of worlds, so with A.I., we can screen the welds ahead of time and help the people be more effective.”
Once completed, the Vulcan stages are transported to Cape Canaveral. The fully assembled Vulcan rocket stands about 23 stories tall.
Bruno tells News 19 ULA has invested half a billion dollars in automating its Decatur factory.
The post Take a look inside United Launch Alliance’s Decatur rocket factory appeared first on WHNT.
