Ukrainian crisis: US Government to examine building RD-180 rocket engines in USA rather than in Russia

by | Mar 18, 2014 | commercial launch services, History, Russia, Technology | 0 comments

As our Ukranian crisis analysis predicted, the US Government is now concerned that a Russian-built rocket engine, the RD-180, is being used to power United Launch Alliance (ULA)-operated Atlas V launch vehicle, one of two types the US Department of Defence currently relies  on to launch its satellites.  It is now looking for alternatives including building RD-180 engines within USA.

While US rocket technology is known to be superior in LOx (liquid oxygen)/Liquid Hydrogen cryogenic rocket engines, the Russians are known to have more efficient rocket cycles for first stage LOx/Kerosene burning engines.  The RD-180 uses an oxygen-rich preburner in a high pressure staged-combustion cycle. This was the reason that the Russian made RD-180 was selected to power the first stage of the Atlas V.  The engines are officially supplied (actually imported) by RD AMROSS which was originally a joint US Russian firm which originally consisted of the US rocket firm Pratt and Whitney/Rocketdyne (now part of Aerojet Rocketdyne) and the Russian rocket firm Energomash.

According to Space News, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has openly called for a review of the decision to use Russian-built engines. In a subsequent report by Defence Daily, the Air Force Under Secretary Eric Fanning has announced that the US Air Force is now performing an analysis of how much it would cost to produce the Russian-made RD-180 rocket engine in USA.  RD AMROSS technically has a license to manufacture the RD-180 engine in the United States if ordered to by ULA or the US Department of Defence (DoD).

It is not just Russian hardware and services that the US DoD wants to become independent from.  According to reports, the US DoD has recently announced that it is to end its  controversial lease of capacity on Apstar 7, a communications satellite that is owned by APT Satellite Holdings which is majority owned by the Government of China via the state-owned China Aerospace Science & Technology Corp.

 

About Seradata

Seradata produces the renowned Seradata database. Trusted by over 100 of the world’s leading Space organisations, Seradata is a fully queryable database used for market analysis, failure/risk assessment, spectrum analysis and space situational awareness (SSA).

For more information go to https://www.seradata.com/product/

Related Articles

Categories

Archives

Tags

nasaspacexecoreviewsissesaArianespacechinavideoFalcon 9v1.2FT Block 525virgin galacticULAfalcon 9evaRoscosmosspacewalkDGAaviation weekBlue OriginaresInternational Space StationIGTsoyuzRocket LabBeidouawardsStarlinkAirbus DSspaceboeingSatellite broadcastingrussiaOneWebmoonISROCargo Return VehiclemarsblogresearchspaceshiptwoorionjaxamarsimpactdelayhyperbolaEutelsatdemocratrocketlunarhypertextobamagoogle lunar prizelaunchVegathales alenia spaceSESconstellationtourismbarack obamafiguresnorthspaceflightIntelsatnode 2fundedRaymond Lygo2009Lockheed MartinExpress MD-2Elon MuskAtlas Vromess2dassault aviationsstlaviationLucy2008wk2ukradiosuborbitaltestmissiledocking portexplorationAriane 5 ECAVirgin OrbitinternetSLSLong March 2D/2China Manned Space Engineeringsts-122Ariane 5Northrop GrummanElectronmissile defensenewspapercotsgalileospace tourismflight2010Long March 4CspaceportExpress AMU 1buildspace stationaltairsoyuz 2-1ashuttleProton Minternational astronautical congressscaled compositesAriane 6Intelsat 23space shuttleLauncherOneEuropean Space AgencyCosmoshanleybudgetrulesnew yorkLong March 2CInmarsatnew shepardVietnamatvshenzhoucongressMojaveboldenOrbital ATKcnesUS Air ForceGuiana Space Centerlunar landeriackscApollolawsSpace Systems/LoralUK Space AgencyLong March 4BKuaizhou 1AElectron KSILSprotondarpaTalulah RileyVega CFalcon 9v1.2 Block 5North KoreaeuSkylonlanderAstriumbaseusaastronautdragonpicturefiveeventTelesatSSLViasatSpace InsuranceAprilSNClaunchesSea LaunchinterviewWednesdayLong Marchfalcon50thcustomer

Stay Informed with Seradata

Stay informed on the latest news, insights, and more from Seradata by signing up for our newsletter.