US-based Orbital Sciences has confirmed that its upgraded Antares rocket will use RD-181 engines from Russia’s NPO Energomash to return to flight in early 2016.
Energomash also builds the RD-180 engines that are sold to United Launch Alliance through…
US-based Orbital Sciences has confirmed that its upgraded Antares rocket will use RD-181 engines from Russia’s NPO Energomash to return to flight in early 2016.
Energomash also builds the RD-180 engines that are sold to United Launch Alliance through its US joint venture RD Amross, whose contract terms are being reviewed by the US government amid strained political tensions between the two counties.
However, Orbital is buying the RD-181 directly from Energomash and believes it can avoid being caught up in the political backlash because, unlike ULA, its immediate missions concern civil and commercial space, and not sensitive government payloads.
Orbital said that the RD-181 was the only option that meets its schedule and its technical requirements.
The US group said it would take delivery of the first RD-181 in mid-2015 and plans to be ready to resume Antares launches early in 2016.
In May, Russian state news agency ITAR-TASS reported that Orbital would use the RD-181 from the end of 2016, but the upgrade has been brought forward after it decided to drop Aerojet Rocketdyne’s AJ26 following a launch failure at the end of October.
The AJ26 is essentially a Kuznetsov NK-33 engine, designed and built in the late 1960s and early 1970s, refurbished by Aerojet Rocketdyne; part of US-based space technology manufacturer GenCorp.
To keep its International Space Station cargo deliveries on track for NASA, Orbital has acquired at least one Atlas V rocket from ULA to carry on those missions until its Antares is ready to fly again.
Orbital’s decision to tap a Russian engine maker for the upgrade comes as political tensions between Washington and the Kremlin are heightened.
In August, the US Air Force posted a Request for Information (RFI) asking the domestic industry to propose replacements for the Russian-made RD-180 engine due to the two countries strained relationship.
ULA recently struck a partnership with low-profile rocket maker Blue Origin to build a domestic alternative to the RD-180 that powers Atlas V, but this is targeting a first flight in 2019.
Meanwhile, US aerospace and defence products maker ATK, which is set to merge with Orbital, has said that if it was picked to build a solid-fuel engine for Atlas V it would not be ready for at least three years.
Russian reports have claimed that Orbital’s deal with Energomash is valued at about US$1bn and covers 20 firm orders – with options for a total of 40 more – and restricts the launch of defence payloads.
However, Orbital has been cited saying the value of the fully-exercised contract is significantly less than US$1bn, despite the order taking it through 2020.
