The situation with the supply of Russian rocket engines to US enterprises was further continued. United Launch Alliance (ULA), realizing the risks associated with the latest court decision on the supply of Russian products, initiates work on the creation of new rocket engines. A few days ago, ULA announced that it had signed contracts for preliminary work on a program to develop a new rocket engine. Several American companies and organizations are involved in the work.
So far, we are talking only about preliminary work in the framework of the creation of new engines. Companies involved in the program are required to submit a package of technical documentation in the near future, as well as work out the economic aspects of the project, develop a work schedule and identify possible risks. After analyzing the submitted documents, ULA will choose the most successful proposal and conclude a contract for the development and construction of new rocket engines. All work under the new program will take several years. It is argued that the first launches of carrier rockets equipped with promising engines will take place no earlier than 2019.
Over the next few months, the participating companies will have to develop a preliminary draft and submit it to the ULA. According to current plans, the development and comparison of preliminary projects will be completed in the fourth quarter of this year. Next, ULA will select a contractor who will build the project, and in the future will build new engines. The operation of the newest rocket engine will begin no earlier than the end of this decade.
ULA President Michael Gass recalled that his organization is the only company that has all the permits and licenses to carry out the most important missions, and also noted that the creation of a new rocket engine will allow the company to maintain a leading position in the American space industry. Moreover, the company must keep it and continue to carry out launches in the interests of the state. The company's vice president, George Sowers, who is responsible for the creation of promising projects, said that ULA has a number of alternatives to the technology currently in use. The many advanced technologies available can be used to improve the competitiveness of a company.
Despite the intention to obtain a new engine for its launch vehicles, the United Launch Alliance does not intend to terminate ties with the Russian-American joint venture RD AMROSS, which supplies it with RD-180 engines. At the same time, ULA specialists will study the prospects of the existing partnership and assess the long-term feasibility of using Russian-made engines. In the future, they will compare the RD-180 engine and a new development of one of the American companies, created as part of a recently launched program.
M. Gass acknowledged the success of the cooperation between ULA and RD AMROSS, but at the same time noted that now is the best time to start new American projects. Thus, the United Launch Alliance is trying to seize the chance and start creating a new American rocket engine for modern and advanced launch vehicles.
Currently, ULA is installing Russian liquid-propellant engines RD-180 on Atlas V launch vehicles. The engines are manufactured by the Russian NPO Energomash named after V. Academician V. P. Glushko (Khimki). To meet the requirements of American legislation, the engines are supplied through RD AMROSS, a joint venture between the Russian NPO Energomash and the American Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (now Aerojet Rocketdyne). The existing contract between Russian and American aerospace enterprises implies the supply of RD-180 rocket engines until 2018.
In the spring of this year, against the background of deteriorating Russian-American relations, a number of events took place directly related to the supply of rocket engines. So, at the end of April, the US Federal Court of Justice prohibited ULA from concluding new contracts for the supply of RD-180 engines. The reason for the litigation was the claim of SpaceX, according to which the supply of Russian engines is carried out in violation of the existing US procurement and tendering legislation. A few days later, ULA protested this decision, and also received the support of the United States leadership. Several government departments submitted documents indicating that there were no violations in the procurement of RD-180 engines. In addition, the importance of such purchases for the American space industry was noted.
It should be noted that many experts believe that the reason for the claim was banal competition. ULA has long been a prime contractor for the US Air Force and other government agencies. SpaceX, in turn, also wants to get lucrative contracts and that is why it went to court. At the same time, the entire situation with the trial was unfolding against the backdrop of numerous discussions of sanctions against Russia.
As long as the existing contract, signed in the mid-1990s, is in effect, the US space industry will be able to continue to use Russian rocket engines. However, recent events have shown that in the future, a number of leading companies in the industry may lose critical supplies. In this regard, the flow of proposals to develop their own rocket engine, suitable for replacing the Russian RD-180, resumed with renewed vigor.
In mid-May, several US senators proposed to finance the development of a promising rocket engine into the budget for next year. The proposal calls for $ 100 million in the FY15 budget for the new project. In the future, apparently, the state will provide additional funding for the implementation of this project.
About a month after the appearance of the bill, authored by senators, ULA announced its plans to develop the industry, announcing the start of a program to create a promising rocket engine. Most likely, the program of the ULA company will be more successful, since work on it will start in the very near future, and the proposal of the senators will have to go through several instances before it leads to the corresponding amendments in the country's budget.
Before the appearance of the bill on financing a new project in the United States, a proposal was made to start licensed production of Russian engines at American enterprises. Apparently, this proposal remained at the level of conversations and discussions, since the production of RD-180 engines is carried out using Russian materials, technologies and standards. An attempt to expand the production of these engines in the United States would lead to the need to master a number of technologies, as well as rebuild many production processes to comply with Russian standards.
The main topic of discussion now is the development of our own rocket engine with the required characteristics. It is already clear that such a project will lead to a large waste of money and time. For example, one of the authors of the bill on the beginning of financing a promising project, Senator Bill Nelson, believes that the development of a new engine will take at least five years. Other experts are less optimistic in their forecasts and speak of longer timeframes: from seven to ten years. A few weeks ago, the Bloomberg news agency quoted analysts working with the Pentagon. According to these experts, the program for the development of a new engine to replace the Russian RD-180 will require at least five years and could cost the budget $ 1.5 billion.
While senators, analysts and the interested public are discussing the timing, cost and even the very possibility of creating a new American engine, the United Launch Alliance is taking the first real steps in this direction. Recently, contracts have been signed with companies that are to work on defining the shape of a promising engine. The first results of the new program will appear this fall.
