A spacecraft engineering company is preparing to close its operations at their facility at the Valley International Airport in Harlingen.

The United Launch Alliance has been building parts for its Atlas rocket in Harlingen for more than a decade, but this mission will be coming to an end by the end of the year.

"ULA is retiring their Atlas rockets, and for internal reasons they are focusing on a new product line if you will and that product line is produced somewhere else in Alabama," Valley International Airport Air Service and Business Development Director Nicolas Mirman said.

Currently, 100 employees are working at the ULA facility, but officials from the airport and the city of Harlingen are confident that these jobs will be replaced by the next tenant. 

"They have, from my understanding, been given an opportunity to transfer to other ULA properties,"  Harlingen Economic Development Corporation interim Manager and CEO Beverly Loftus said.

Loftus hopes to retain those employees.

"Staff that work at United Launch Alliance have excellent skills and so those skills are needed for other companies that are within this area," Loftus said.

Loftus said ULA's closure is not unexpected. The Harlingen EDC has been working with VIA to market the space that will soon be left empty.

"It was built for space products, so the standard and the technology of the building are awesome," Mirman said.

Loftus said they already have some potential prospects who are interested in moving in. She's hoping to have a new tenant by the time ULA leaves.