ULA’s new RoRo cargo vessel to feature Schottel’s propulsion suite

Germany’s propulsion system manufacturer Schottel has been selected to provide a full propulsion package for U.S.-based United Launch Alliance’s (ULA’s) new roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) cargo vessel being built by Bollinger Shipyards in Amelia, Louisiana.

The vessel, to be named SpaceShip, will be equipped with three RudderPropellers SRP 460 LE and two TransverseThrusters STT 1, Schottel revealed, adding that the electric system will be designed and supplied by elkon, a member of the Schottel Group.

As informed, the main propulsion system will consist of three SRP 460 in the embedded L-Drive variant, each with an input power of 2100 kilowatts and a propeller diameter of 2.6 meters. It is understood that with this propulsion unit, the 111-meter-long and 25-meter-wide vessel will achieve a maximum speed of 15 knots. The two STT 1 units, each with an input power of 373 kilowatts and a propeller diameter of 1.3 meters, are expected to further enhance the ship’s manoeuvring performance.

Schottel’s scope of supply will reportedly be completed by the MasterStick, a joystick system that, according to the manufacturer, can control all five propulsion units simultaneously with one single lever, allowing “precise and comfortable” manoeuvring.

Already noted, elkon will deliver Active Front End (AFE) Drive technology for the main electrical propulsion system. In addition to the main switchboards, the vessel will be equipped with an Alarm Control and Monitoring System (ACMS) and a Power Management System (PMS). Schottel said that elkon’s scope of supply will be completed by Motor Control Centers (MCC), Power Distribution System Panels, as well as Bridge and Engine Control Center Consoles. The solutions are expected to ensure “maximum safety, reliability, and performance.”

SpaceShip is scheduled for completion in 2026 and will reportedly transport Vulcan rockets, heavy-lift launch vehicles developed by ULA, from the factory in Decatur, Alabama, to the launch sites at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

To remind, at the beginning of 2025, Schottel secured a contract to supply full propulsion packages for three new LNG bunkering vessels under construction at Nantong CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering (SOE) in China. Two vessels were ordered by UK-based midstream LNG & BioLNG company Avenir LNG, and one by Singapore’s Vitol International Shipping.

Earlier, in 2024, the company was selected to supply azimuth thrusters for four environmentally friendly tugs for U.S.-based Saltchuk Marine, EcoPellers for a series of four zero-emission and autonomous ferries for Norwegian ferry operator Fjord1, as well as a full propulsion package for a methanol bunker vessel under construction at San Giorgio del Porto Shipyards in Italy.