--- title: "Elon Musk Offers to Bring a “Few Spare Engines” to Rocket Competitor" description: "In a light-hearted exchange on Twitter, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk offered to give rocket competitor, the United Launch Alliance (ULA), a leg up." date: "2021-06-30" modified: "2021-06-30" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-bring-spare-engines-competitor" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Off-World" - "Space" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "the digest" - "ula" - "United Launch Alliance" --- # Elon Musk Offers to Bring a “Few Spare Engines” to Rocket Competitor ![In a light-hearted exchange on Twitter, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk offered to give rocket competitor, the United Launch Alliance (ULA), a leg up.]() *\Image: ULA\* ## Potluck In a light-hearted exchange on Twitter this week, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk offered to give its competitor United Launch Alliance (ULA) a leg up. When [invited]() to see the development of ULA's Vulcan Centaur rocket for himself by CEO Tory Bruno, [Musk offered]() to "bring a few spare engines... I mean, just in case." "Thank you for the kind offer," Bruno [replied](). "But, I hear your bird flys \[sic\] with quite a few and I wouldn’t want to leave you short," he added, likely referring to the fact that SpaceX is planning to strap more than 30 Raptor engines to its own heavy lift rocket Super Heavy. The jovial exchange showed Musk's more affable side — though he's still as prone as ever to [lashing out at his enemies online](). https://youtu.be/p2fl8H7E4-w ## Vulcan Centaur The [Vulcan Centaur]() rocket is a two-stage, heavy-lift launch vehicle ULA has been developing since 2014. It's the spiritual successor to the Atlas V and Delta IV rockets, and can lift up to 15,900 pounds to geosynchronous orbit or 52,900 pounds to low-Earth orbit. Its main purpose is to launch payloads on behalf of the US Space Force and intelligence agencies. The rocket's maiden voyage is tentatively scheduled for next year. The rocket has been under assembly at rocket company Dynetics' facility. That's notable, considering the company is directly competing with SpaceX on NASA's Human Lander Systems contract. Alongside Blue Origin, Dynetics [recently filed a protest]() to NASA's decision to [pick SpaceX only]() to develop a lunar lander for crewed missions to the Moon starting in 2024. While it's unlikely the billionaire Musk was serious about his offer, a few extra Raptor engines wouldn't have helped ULA out that much anyway. When asked if Vulcan can "use Raptors," Bruno explained in a [follow-up tweet]() that it wouldn't work. "Rocket and engine are designed together. And... this was just a joke." **More on Musk:** *[Did Elon Musk Quietly Fire the President of Neuralink?]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()