The Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program began in 1995 and was designed to allow the Department of Defense (DOD) access to space with the intention of reducing the cost of satellite launches by at least 25 percent while striving for up to 50 percent. Four contractors were initially approved to compete for the contract, but two EELVs were eventually selected: Boeing's Delta IV and Lockheed Martin's Atlas V. In 2005, Boeing and Lockheed Martin announced plans to combine forces on the production, engineering, test, and launch operations on Delta and Atlas launch services. The joint venture was called the United Launch Alliance (ULA), and its supporters claimed that government procurements of launch vehicles for the DOD, National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) would be made cheaper and more efficient. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) saw things differently.