US to Stop Using Russian Rocket Engine RD-180 in Mid-2020s - United Launch Alliance

Sputnik News

02:34 GMT 16.09.2020

MOSCOW, September 16 (Sputnik) - US company United Launch Alliance (ULA) plans to end operation of the Atlas-5 launch vehicle with the Russian RD-180 engine in the mid-2020s, Julie Arnold, an ULA spokeswoman, told Sputnik.

The RD-180 engine is manufactured at the Energomash rocket engine manufacturer (an enterprise of Russian state space corporation Roscosmos) and is used in the first stage of the Atlas-5 rocket. ULA provides launch services with Atlas-5.

According to Energomash, 116 RD-180 engines have been sent to the United States, of which 91 have already been used. In 2020, delivery of six more RD-180s is expected.

The United States is developing a Vulcan launch vehicle to replace the Atlas-5, the first stage of which will be equipped with the BE-4 engines by Blue Origin.

There are plans to use the RD-180 in Russia - in the medium-lift Soyuz-6 rockets and the super-heavy Yenisei.

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