MOSCOW, April 17 — RIA Novosti. The head of the U.S. United Launch Alliance (ULA) Tory Bruno told his Twitter followers why his company uses Russian rocket engines RD-180.
According to him, at the end of the cold war, the U.S. government has asked the ULA to buy these engines to “Russian scientists, the missile was not in North Korea and Iran”.
In response, members noted that RD-180 is a very powerful and reliable, while the American counterparts are more expensive.
the RD-180 is installed on the American boosters Atlas family. These missiles, according to analysts, are used for “mission-critical space launches carried out in the national security interests of the United States”.
Previously, the magazine the National Interest wrote that the law obliges the U.S. air force to abandon the use of the RD-180, however, according to the newspaper, this will not happen until at least 2024.
the Congress also recognized the inability to replace Russian engines on American in the next ten years.
