The Space Foundation identified the most commonly used...
The Space Foundation identified the most commonly used Russian rockets and their characteristics to clarify the nature and scope of U.S. reliance on Russian rocket engines. U.S. space launch programs deploy the Russian-made RD-180 engine and the AJ26 engine, a…
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modified JSC Kuznetsov engine, the Space Foundation said in a fact sheet (http://bit.ly/1hFdjkx). The RD-180 is often used by United Launch Alliance and AJ26 is used by Orbital Sciences, it said. RD-180 has flown 50 times on Atlas missions for ULA with 100 percent success, it said. The AJ26 has flown three times with 100 percent success on the Antares launch vehicle for Orbital, Space Foundation said. The government and commercial industry have invested about $300 million over the last 20 years in technology associated with oxidizer-rich staged combustion rocket engines, it said. The Defense Department estimated it would need $1 billion over five years to establish production of an RD-180 class engine on U.S. soil, Space Foundation said. The foundation developed the fact sheet due to questions raised during the conflict in Ukraine on reliance on the engines, it said.