The US Court of Federal Claims has lifted an injunction that had temporarily banned United Launch Alliance from ordering Russian engines for its Atlas 5 rockets.
The ban was placed on 30 April to address concerns that money from the purchase of RD-180…
The US Court of Federal Claims has lifted an injunction that had temporarily banned United Launch Alliance from ordering Russian engines for its Atlas 5 rockets.
The ban was placed on 30 April to address concerns that money from the purchase of RD-180 engines could go to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees the country’s space industry and is one of the officials sanctioned by the US over its incursions into Ukraine.
But the Court of Federal Claims took just over a week to find that buying RD-180s, which are made by Russia’s NPO Energomash, did not contravene the Ukraine sanctions.
The injunction was borne out of SpaceX’s lawsuit against the US Air Force, which calls for an end to ULA’s monopoly on the government’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) contract.
ULA said: “Sadly, SpaceX’s frivolous lawsuit caused unnecessary distraction of the executive and judicial branch and increased tensions with Russia during a sensitive national security crisis.
“SpaceX’s actions are self-serving, irresponsible and have threatened the US’s involvement with the International Space Station and other companies and projects working with Russian State entities.”
ULA, a joint venture between US defence and aerospace giants Boeing and Lockheed Martin, called on SpaceX to revisit its lawsuit and the merits of its case.
“The fact remains, even today SpaceX is not certified to launch even one mission under the block buy contract – a contract that was authorised and announced more than two years ago, without objection by SpaceX, and is saving the US taxpayers over US$4bn,” it said.
SpaceX was unable to comment before the press deadline.
