Four RD-180 rocket engines, which power the main stage of the U.S. Atlas 5 rocket, have been delivered from Russia to United Launch Alliance (ULA) of Denver. The deliveries are the latest shipments in a $1 billion, 101-engine contract with RD Amross, a joint venture between Canoga Park, Calif.-based Pratt & Whitney-Rocketdyne and RD-180 builder Energomash of Khimki, Russia. The contract calls for deliveries of four engines per year, on average.
The Russian government, as part of its stated decision to consolidate Russia’s space hardware sector, is reviewing proposals to merge Energomash into NPO Energia, which builds hardware for manned spaceflight and also manufactures the Block-DM upper stage for the commercial Sea Launch and Land Launch rocket programs.
