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bnw.
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June 11, 2016 at 7:10 pm #45902
TSRFParticipantWhy in the world is a launch vehicle based on an old USA ICBM reliant on a Russian engine??
This is the kind of stuff that makes my hair hurt.Abandonment of Russian rocket engines may ground Pentagon’s space plans
by Staff Writers
Moscow (Sputnik) Jun 09, 2016File image.
The Pentagon is becoming more and more vocal in its warning about national security and budget risks that may result from ending the use of Russian-made RD-180 rocket engines, an article in The Wall Street Journal read.The RD-180 has been used to power the Atlas V rocket used by the US Air Force to launch its probes as well as in NASA research programs. Earlier, the Pentagon said that it would abandon the use of RD-180 engines only when capable analogues are developed.
In late-May, the Senate Armed Services Committee, chaired by Senator John McCain, released its version of the National Defense Authorization Act for the fiscal year 2017, urging to limit the number of RD-180 engines to nine. The House Armed Services Committee recommended increasing the number to 18.
According to WSJ, Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work wrote a letter to one of the congressmen, to express the growing concerns of the US military.
Work noted that the US Air Force does not have sufficient budget capabilities to replace an abrupt ending of the use of RD-180 engines and replace them with more expensive analogues.
He warned that additional spending between $1.5 billion and $5 billion would “crowd out other important national-security investments.”
Other documents submitted by the deputy defense secretary reveal that if the US ends the use of the Russian engines a number of crucial space launches for the Pentagon will be delayed for two years.
The US decided to find alternative ways to launch satellites into space following Crimea’s reunification with Russia, a move approved by more than 96 percent of the peninsula’s population. The US is currently exploring three options – it is developing a new engine and designing new launch vehicles, but this is a lengthy process that requires significant funding.
In 2014, the US Congress passed a law demanding the United States phase out its reliance on the Russian-made RD-180 rocket engines.
However, in the two years since its purchasing ban on the RD-180 engines, Congress has been forced to lift the moratorium to ensure the United States has access to space.
June 11, 2016 at 9:40 pm #45904bnwBlockedMore of Obama’s stupidity from gutting NASA.
The upside to being a Rams fan is heartbreak.
Sprinkles are for winners.
June 12, 2016 at 7:44 am #45908TSRFParticipantThat’s a bit too simplistic. Turns out the RD-180 was first used by us in 2000.
From Wikipedia:
The roots of the RD-180 rocket engine extend back into the Soviet Energia launch vehicle project. The RD-170, a four-chamber engine, was developed for use on the strap-on boosters for this vehicle, which ultimately was used to lift the Buran orbiter. This engine was scaled down to a two-chamber version by combining the RD-170’s combustion devices with half-size turbomachinery. After successful performance in engine tests on a test stand and high-level agreements between the US government and the Russian government, the engines were imported to the US for use on the Lockheed Martin Atlas III, with first flight in 2000. The engine is also used on the United Launch Alliance Atlas V, the successor to the Atlas III.[1]
No idea what Obama was doing in the late 90’s, but I’m fairly sure he had no influence on whether or not to purchase rocket engines from the Russians.
It just blows my mind that less than 10 years after the end of the Soviet Union, we started buying the main rocket engine needed to launch MUOS, SBIRS and GPS satellites from our “good friends” the Russians.
June 12, 2016 at 9:16 am #45910bnwBlockedThat’s a bit too simplistic. Turns out the RD-180 was first used by us in 2000.
From Wikipedia:
The roots of the RD-180 rocket engine extend back into the Soviet Energia launch vehicle project. The RD-170, a four-chamber engine, was developed for use on the strap-on boosters for this vehicle, which ultimately was used to lift the Buran orbiter. This engine was scaled down to a two-chamber version by combining the RD-170’s combustion devices with half-size turbomachinery. After successful performance in engine tests on a test stand and high-level agreements between the US government and the Russian government, the engines were imported to the US for use on the Lockheed Martin Atlas III, with first flight in 2000. The engine is also used on the United Launch Alliance Atlas V, the successor to the Atlas III.[1]
No idea what Obama was doing in the late 90’s, but I’m fairly sure he had no influence on whether or not to purchase rocket engines from the Russians.
It just blows my mind that less than 10 years after the end of the Soviet Union, we started buying the main rocket engine needed to launch MUOS, SBIRS and GPS satellites from our “good friends” the Russians.
Yet Obama has done all he can for years to antagonize the provider of those rocket engines. Strategic thinking was never his strength.
The upside to being a Rams fan is heartbreak.
Sprinkles are for winners.
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