Photographers Are Being Restricted During ULA Rocket Launches

The United Launch Alliance (ULA)’s new remote camera agreement has irked longtime rocket launch photographers because it prevents them from using their photos for personal purposes or selling prints.

“Due to circumstances that have arisen I may not be going to cover USSF-51 or future ULA missions after all,” writes photographer David Diebold on X, formerly known as Twitter. Diebold captures great astro photos, rocket launch images, and more. “I cannot sit by while myself and my colleagues are actively being forbidden from trying to support ourselves to be able to do what we do.”

Diebold explains that the ULA’s new remote camera agreement policy limits how photographers can use their photos of ULA mission launches, preventing people from even sharing images on social media.

The ULA Camera Placement Agreement, included in full below, is an annual agreement between the United Launch Alliance LLC and photographers granting permission to place cameras or other approved recording devices inside a launch pad security.

While much of the agreement seems normal, like equipment needing to be approved and traceable to its owner, not impacting launch operations, and being set up well before a launch, other language in the agreement is unreasonably restrictive.

The agreement states, “by placing a camera on ULA property, you agree that the photos are for editorial purposes.” Editorial purposes include use for news and industry articles and broadcasts but exclude personal websites, blogs, or social media and commercial pursuits — like selling prints.

Diebold says that he appreciates the opportunities ULA has long provided to photographers like him, and he has “always admired ULA for their openness and willingness to allow media up close access,” but describes the new agreement as a “heel turn” that he cannot, in good conscience, sign.

As Ars Technica reports, ULA itself has been quiet about the ongoing controversy. ULA’s chief executive, Tory Bruno, who is very active on X, has seemingly ignored all comments and questions on social media about the situation with photographers.

“This new agreement severely limits the ability of many members of the media to be able to support themselves and make this a viable field of work,” Diebold continues on X. “A great majority of the non traditional media pool does not get paid/gets paid very little to do this work.”

On one hand, ULA has every right to enforce rules concerning its property. A ULA launch site is not public property, and ULA, a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Space and Boeing Defense, Space & Security, is not a public enterprise. Photographers not wishing to set up a camera in a secure area don’t need to sign anything and can continue to do whatever they wish with photos, although they are less likely to get great shots without the improved access of a launchpad.

However, on the other hand, photographers have played a significant role in increasing the awareness and enthusiasm for space exploration and launch missions.

Many launch site photographers capture photos on their own dime and with personal equipment, so restricting their use of the images they shoot feels inherently wrong. These new restrictions seem to have nothing to do with safety or security, either, which would make them a bit more palatable.

Per Diebold, there is some disagreement about whether these restrictions are, in fact, “new” at all. The photographer writes that the policy introduces new limitations, while ULA says it includes language that has always been conveyed to photographers.

“It has not,” Diebold maintains.

Eric Berger at Ars Technica chatted with prominent space influencer Tim Dodd, known as Everyday Astronaut, about the ULA situation.

“I was spending a lot of money to come down from Iowa to shoot rocket launches. My only chance of paying for some of my gas, meals, and hotels was if I got lucky enough to capture an image that people would want to hang on their walls. And it wasn’t much. We’re talking maybe a couple hundred dollars tops,” Dodd explains, noting the amateur photographers’ dedication to creating amazing photos and increasing excitement about space.

As Berger puts it in his coverage of the situation, “ULA has effectively told the photographers that they’re welcome to continue being publicists for the company’s launches, but they may no longer derive income from it through personal sales.”

Dodd isn’t sure why ULA would care about the “little money” hobbyist photographers can make by documenting launches, adding that preventing people from selling their photos will render going to launches prohibitively expensive for some.

As ULA enters the era of its new Vulcan Centaur heavy-lift rocket, the organization could benefit from the positive press that awesome photos provide, but alas, the company seems willing to toss that to the wind.

And although ULA isn’t obligated to provide photographers any sort of access, it is instructive to detach ULA’s rights from what many people believe is the right thing to do. The reaction online to the situation has been heavily negative toward ULA, with much of the commentary landing on the site that ULA has overstepped and is harming its long-term interests.

For the dedicated amateur photographers who love rocket launches, there are fortunately alternatives out there, as ULA launches account for “three to five percent” of launches by American companies, per Berger. Nonetheless, any time photographers are restricted for seemingly no good reason, it’s a collective loss for the photo community and beyond.

PetaPixel contacted ULA with questions concerning the situation with the new photographer agreement but has not yet received a response.

Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.