The Alabama News Center — The rocket fleet: ULA’s seafaring path to the stars flows through Alabama

By: Jerry Underwood

In the vast waters of the Gulf of Mexico, fishing boats skimming the waves and cargo ships charting global courses are joined by a unique vessel — part ocean freighter, part spacefaring accomplice.

Her name is ”RocketShip,” and while she may not carry cannons or torpedoes, she’s the pride of an unusual Alabama-based maritime fleet belonging to the United Launch Alliance.

ULA, known across the aerospace world for hurling satellites and scientific missions into Earth’s orbit aboard its stalwart Atlas and Delta rockets — and now its next-gen Vulcan Centaur — doesn’t just build these colossal machines in secret inland labs. It also moves them across thousands of miles by sea, with a fleet that might seem completely at home in a Tom Clancy novel.

The Alabama Weather Blog is pleased to present an excerpt from a featured article in partnership with the Alabama News Center. For the full post including images, videos, and related links, please visit the article HERE.

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