Moscow. September 4. INTERFAX - The United States has a sufficient supply of Russian RD-180 rocket engines, but they plan to continue purchasing the RD-181 model, the head of Roskosomos, Dmitry Rogozin, said.
"They bought everything (RD-180-IF) that they wanted. They have 29 engines sold by us... But we supply not only the RD-180, we also supply the RD-181. And the United States is extremely interested in continuing supplies," Rogozin said on the YouTube channel "Solovyov Live" on Saturday.
On August 24, Rogozin told Interfax that negotiations on a new contract for the supply of engines to the United States are going constructively. "There is a government decision, everything is going in the usual routine mode," he said.
"They relate primarily to the RD-181M engines, this is an export version of the engine that we are installing on the Angara . It is used for the Antares rocket, there are great prospects here, I think that the contracts will continue, " Rogozin said.
Earlier, the Russian government supported the negotiations on the conclusion of a contract for the supply of Russian RD-181M engines manufactured by NPO Energomash to the American company Orbital Sciences LLS. The corresponding order of the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin was published on the portal of legal information.
The conclusion of a contact, the document emphasizes, is possible in the event of a settlement of 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 launch vehicles with Russian engines will not be used to launch military vehicles.
In December last year, it was reported that Energomash plans to transfer at least ten RD-180/RD-181 rocket engines to the United States in 2021.
As Maxim Ovchinnikov, the first deputy director of Roscosmos for Economics and Finance, reported in an interview with Interfax, the supply of engines to the United States brings about a third of Energomash's revenue - about 10-12 billion rubles a year.
The RD-180 engines are used by the United Launch Alliance in the Atlas-5 launch vehicle. Another American company, Orbital ATK, is supplied with RD-181 engines. They are used in Antares rockets, with the help of which Cygnus cargo ships are sent to the International Space Station.