Russia's Energomash rocket engine manufacturer, which is part of state space corporation Roscosmos, is preparing another three RD-180 rocket engines for shipment to the United States, the company said in a statement Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th October, 2019) Russia's Energomash rocket engine manufacturer, which is part of state space corporation Roscosmos, is preparing another three RD-180 rocket engines for shipment to the United States, the company said in a statement Friday.In June, NPO Energomash sent three engines to the United States to be used in Atlas V launch vehicles.
"A commission on the acceptance of the next batch of RD-180 engines made at NPO Energomash successfully finished its work. Representatives of Pratt & Whitney, United Launch Alliance, RD Amross companies signed forms for three engines," the statement said, adding that the engines were being prepared for shipment.
Over 80 US Atlas III and Atlas V spacecraft have already been launched with Russian engines.
To lower Washington's reliance on Russian engines, the US Congress had attempted to strictly limit the future purchases of RD-180 as part of economic sanctions against Moscow and passed in 2014 a law requiring the US to develop a domestically produced next-generation rocket propulsion system by 2019. However, in 2015, the ban was canceled, and the following year, the US Senate decided to continue buying Russian RD-180 rocket engines for space launches.
