In February 2016, it was announced the development of the Vulcan rocket would be funded via a public–private partnership with the U.S. government. By early 2016, the USAF had committed US$201 million of funding for Vulcan development. ULA had not "put a firm price on the cost of Vulcan development" but according to Mike Gross of SpaceNews, Bruno "said new rockets typically cost US$2 billion, including US$1 billion for the main engine". In 2016, ULA had asked the U.S. government to provide a minimum of US$1.2 billion by 2020 to assist the development of the new U.S. launch vehicle. It was unclear how the change in development funding mechanisms would change ULA plans for pricing market-driven launch services. Since Vulcan development began in October 2014, the privately generated funding for Vulcan development has been approved only on a short-term basis. The ULA board of directors, which was composed of executives from Boeing and Lockheed Martin, would approve development funding on a quarterly basis. ULA planned to reduce its number of launchpads from five in 2015 to two.