Oh goodie, the prohibition on the sales of RD-180 was entered into official agenda of Security Council of Russian Federation. http://izvestia.ru/news/556096In effect the space industry is being punished for the Magnitsky law.
Quote from: zaitcev on 08/27/2013 06:01 pmOh goodie, the prohibition on the sales of RD-180 was entered into official agenda of Security Council of Russian Federation. http://izvestia.ru/news/556096In effect the space industry is being punished for the Magnitsky law.They have all the necessary information and know-how to make those engine in the USA. Thus, to stop selling this engines would only strengthen the US industrial base and basically kill Energomash, since the RD-191 is outsourced to Polyot. I'm sure that this is pure scare politics. I've always admired the Russian scientists. In fact, the Russian economists have, basically, develop the whole mathematical tools of the science. And they are excellent. I just hope that the level of imbecility is not so high as to make an own goal like this.
How much more expensive would it be to manufacture these engines in the US, ignoring the startup costs of course. If Energomash builds them for between 11-13 mil, can Aerojet Rocketdyne build them for less than 20 mil ? Especially if they allow Antares to share the same engine, Rocketdyne could be building almost 20 engines per year.
Or the Pentagon could just buy Delta IV and Falcon 9 instead.
There was a discussion of Antares engine options in Antares Development thread, where, I think the only two semi-viable options are AJ-500 and RD-809 (I may be mistaken about the designation, basically the Ukrainized RD-120K).
http://izvestia.ru/news/559923#ixzz2jMKIgJrBSo, the new twist: a source in Ministery of Trade and Industry shares off the record that Security Council decided to consider continuing sales of RD-180 and the restart of NK-33 for export in the same framework. Also, the source of the friction is apparently in Ministery of Foreign Affairs, who is upset that some kind of deal was referred to U.S. State Department and wants to answer in kind. What a facepalm.
“The parties will now undertake to negotiate a business resolution for Orbital’s access to the RD-180 rocket engine, subject to all necessary approvals from the U.S. and Russian governments,” Orbital said in the filing. “If a mutually agreeable resolution is not reached, Orbital will have the option to refile its lawsuit.”
Orbital Drops Antitrust Lawsuit Against ULAhttp://www.spacenews.com/article/launch-report/39926orbital-drops-antitrust-lawsuit-against-ulaQuote“The parties will now undertake to negotiate a business resolution for Orbital’s access to the RD-180 rocket engine, subject to all necessary approvals from the U.S. and Russian governments,” Orbital said in the filing. “If a mutually agreeable resolution is not reached, Orbital will have the option to refile its lawsuit.”A domestic RD-180 would be certainly be handy right now for both parties....
Makes you wonder if forces are being set in motion to divvy up the startup costs for stateside production by the various parties (ULA, now Orbital, Air Force and maybe Nasa?). This will be an interesting next couple of months for the US propulsion industry.
Makes you wonder if forces are being set in motion to divvy up the startup costs for stateside production
wouldn't it be simpler (and thus less costly) to increase production at Energomash to meet Orbital's needs?
For the record:http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/820736/000082073614000030/litigation8k.htmQuote from: USFdon on 03/21/2014 01:49 amMakes you wonder if forces are being set in motion to divvy up the startup costs for stateside productionThat's fascinating speculation! But wouldn't it be simpler (and thus less costly) to increase production at Energomash to meet Orbital's needs?
Weren't the USAF specs for the next gen engine loosely based on the anticipated performance of the AJ-1E6 ?Instead of investing half a billion or so in a production line for the RD-180, perhaps that money is better spent on completion of the replacement engine. Use the same engines for the next gen Atlas, Antares, and SLS advanced boosters. Sounds like a win-win.
Or maybe manufacture both the RD-180 and AJ-1E6. This way we are not locked into one engine.