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Technology | Fri Apr 8, 2016

U.S. needs up to 18 more Russian rocket engines: Pentagon
WASHINGTON !!

The Pentagon will need to buy up to 18 more Russian-built RD-180 engines to power rockets carrying U.S. military satellites into space over the next six years or so, Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work said in an interview on Friday.

Congress banned use of the Russian RD-180 rocket engines for military use after 2019, following Russia's annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine in 2014.

But U.S. lawmakers eased the ban late last year, worried that it could drive United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co, out of business and leave only privately held SpaceX to lift satellites into space.

Work said the United States needed to ensure there were at least "two affordable and reliable means into space." He added the RD-180 would be needed only during what he described as a transition period of new domestic rocket engine development.

"We just don't see any way you can get a new engine in anything less than six years," Work said.

"And so, therefore, in the transition period, we believe strongly that we need RD-180 space engines. No more than 18 but, you know, that's our position."

Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is pushing to end U.S. dependence on Russian engines used by United Launch Alliance to power its Atlas 5 rockets.

McCain said last month that two Russians placed on the U.S. sanctions list because of events in Ukraine were leaders of Russian space agency Roscosmos, which he said was the parent of the company that makes the RD-180 rocket.

ULA has said it was moving forward with two companies developing their own U.S. engines, Blue Origin and Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, but such development programs were difficult and took years to complete.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-space-russia-idUSKCN0X600H


DECLASSIFIED

Why the U.S. Needs Russian Rocket Engines to Spy on Russia

JUNE 6, 2016

When President Barack Obama came into office, the fact that Russia sold the U.S. the rocket engines it needed for launches was a feature of U.S. foreign policy, not a bug. Obama was trying to reset the U.S. relationship with Moscow, and that meant finding areas where the two former Cold War rivals could cooperate. If the U.S. would rely on Russia to deal with Iran and supply troops in Afghanistan, why not rely on Russia to get satellites into space?

But that was 2009. In 2016 this dependence is very much a bug. Today, Russian aircraft buzz U.S. vessels on the Baltic Sea and bomb U.S.-supported rebels in Syria. Today, the U.S. sanctions officials close to Russian president Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine.

The Pentagon’s reliance on Russian rocket engines will be at the center of a debate this week in the Senate when lawmakers take up a bill to authorize the 2017 U.S. defense budget. Senator John McCain, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is proposing to phase out America’s reliance on the Russian rocket engines...

http://www.bloomberg.com/view/artic...needs-russian-rocket-engines-to-spy-on-russia

US Needs 18 More Russian Rocket Engines for Its Military Satellites

09.04.2016

*** The US isn't going to have the rocket engines it needs for its military satellites for another six years, and Russia remains a reliable partner in providing an affordable means into space, the Pentagon says...

http://sputniknews.com/us/20160409/1037743811/us-russian-rocket-purchase.html