Four reasons why the United States is dangerous to refuse to purchase Russian rocket engines
Analysts from the Lexington Institute (Virginia, USA) cited four reasons for which it is unprofitable for the States to refuse to purchase Russian RD-180 rocket engines that are launching spacecraft into orbit. Earlier it was reported that, despite all the sanctions, the supply of engines in the United States in 2016 will even be doubled compared with the original plans.
Pentagon chief Ashton Carter called "unpleasant"the need to buy RD-180 rocket engines from Russia. But, according to him, the US military intends to "hold his nose" and buy them because of the lack of an acceptable alternative. “Subsequently, we want to get two or more competing start-up service providers, all American,” said Carter at the Senate hearing.
The reasons why the US military will have to buy 18 more of our engines are quite simple and logical.
1. Otherwise, the launch cost of satellites will become too high. Engines are used on Atlas rockets. The only alternative to them are Delta missiles, but the cost of using them is higher by a full third.
2. SpaceX, the only provider of cargo delivery services to orbit, cannot provide satellites to all necessary orbits. Many military satellites, due to their specificity, are comparatively heavy, and must be placed in orbits of a certain height. But SpaceX, which recently received permission for the withdrawal of military satellites, can only work with four of the eight orbits. As a result, 40% of satellites will still need Atlas (or more expensive Delta) rockets.
3. Refusal of the Russian engines will play into the hands of Russia. After all, if there are any problems with the Delta missiles, the United States will lose the opportunity to put its military satellites into space, and thereby give up positions in front of the Russian military.
4. Rockets do not grow on trees. And if it is too early to ban the purchase of Russian engines, then instantly it will not be possible to replace them with more Delta missiles - they are simply not budgeted for.
The above reasons allow analysts to recommend and continue to buy Russian engines, pending alternatives. The United States hopes that by 2022 a new generation Vulcan rocket will be ready .
The engines for the new generation of missiles are being developed by Blue Origin private companies (BE-4 engine) and Aerojet Rocketdyne (AR1 engine). At the same time, BE-4 is still in development, and Blue Origin is testing the BE-3 engine for its own launch vehicle project. The AR1 engine is also in preliminary development. The engine selection procedure for the Vulcan rocket is planned to be held no earlier than the end of 2016.