United Launch Alliance

United Launch Alliance (ULA), which produces evolved expendable launch vehicles for the U.S. government and other clients, was building parts all over the U.S. and then flying them to one location for assembly. This process was expensive and inefficient, so ULA decided to combine all manufacturing processes into one centralized location. Gresham Smith was tasked with designing modifications and additions to the existing 1.5 million-square-foot facility to support this effort. The work includes clean rooms, humidity and environmental controls, and high purity piping systems. The facility has lowered costs in several ways, including the elimination of the jet fuel necessary for the extremely large aircraft used to transport different parts to a single assembly area. Any savings that ULA realizes directly benefits taxpayers.