United Launch Alliance to build new ship for rocket transport
May 9—United Launch Alliance has entered into agreements for the construction of a ship that will transport rockets from Decatur to launch sites at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, Louisiana, and Bristol Harbor Group Inc. in Bristol, Rhode Island, will design, oversee and build the new ship to transport Vulcan rockets from the Decatur factory on Red Hat Road.
"Over the next year, ULA will be doubling its launch rate capacity in support of our Amazon customer and to ensure timely deliveries of the rockets to the launch site, we needed to build a second ship to support our transportation needs," Chris Ellerhorst, ULA's vice president of the Kuiper Program, said in a news release.
The contracts are for a second roll-on/roll-off vessel classed for both ocean-going and river service. Construction has begun on the 356-foot-long ship at Bollinger's shipyard in Louisiana with delivery to ULA expected in January 2026.
"ULA currently has its first ship called RocketShip that has been in service for decades and with this second ship called SpaceShip our maritime fleet will enable enterprise transportation capacity of four Vulcan launch vehicles across two voyages to either the East or West Coast," said Ellerhorst.
Vulcan's inaugural launch was in January.
Amazon contracted with ULA for 38 launches to support the majority of the deployment for the Project Kuiper constellation, designed to provide broadband service to unserved and underserved communities around the world.
— eric@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2435
