At the same time, Orbital Sciences LLC must guarantee that Antares rockets with Russian engines will not be used to launch military vehicles
MOSCOW, July 16. /TASS/. The Russian government has approved negotiations on the conclusion of a contract for the supply of Russian RD-181M engines manufactured by NPO Energomash (part of Roscosmos) for the American company Orbital Sciences LLC. This is stated in the order of the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin, published on the Internet portal-legal information.
"To accept the proposal of the state Corporation for Space Activities "Roscosmos", agreed with the interested federal executive authorities, on holding negotiations between the joint-stock company "NPO Energomash im. academician V. P. Glushko" (hereinafter referred to as the organization) and the company " Orbital Sciences LLS "(United States of America) on the conclusion of a contract for the use of the liquid rocket engine RD181M (hereinafter referred to as the engine) in the Antares launch vehicle used for cargo delivery to the International Space Station and launches of research and commercial spacecraft," the order says.
The conclusion of a contact, the document emphasizes, is possible in the case of resolving issues related to the use of the results of intellectual activity in the development of the engine with the Russian Defense Ministry and Roscosmos. The American company should also take measures to protect Russian technologies and ensure that Antares missiles with Russian engines will not be used to launch military vehicles.
The RD-181 engine is designed and certified for use in the Antares rocket. This is a single-chamber liquid rocket engine with afterburning of oxidizing generator gas. Fuel - kerosene, oxidizer-liquid oxygen. In 2014, design documentation was released, and in May 2015, the certification of this engine was successfully completed.
In the summer of 2015, the first commercial RD-181 engines were delivered to the United States, and on October 18, 2016, the Antares-230 launch vehicle with RD-181 engines developed and manufactured by NPO Energomash JSC as part of its first stage successfully launched from the Wallops Island cosmodrome.
