Tag: RD-180
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With a landmark launch, the Pentagon is finally free of Russian rocket engines
United Launch Alliance delivered a classified US military payload to orbit Tuesday for the last time with an Atlas V rocket, ending the Pentagon’s use of Russian rocket engines as national security missions transition to all-American launchers. The Atlas V rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 6:45 am EDT…
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ULA’s candidates to replace RD-180 engine win Air Force funding
File photo of a hotfire test using components of Blue Origin’s BE-4 engine. Credit: Blue Origin The Pentagon has awarded at least $162 million in contracts to Aerojet Rocketdyne and United Launch Alliance for development work on the AR1 and BE-4 rocket engines, candidates to power the first stage of a next-generation rocket and replace…
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Orbital ATK, SpaceX nab U.S. Air Force propulsion contracts
Blue Origin successfully test fires its BE-3 high-performance liquid hydrogen engine thrust chamber at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in this 2012 file photo. Credit: NASA Orbital ATK and SpaceX won Pentagon contracts worth a combined value of up to $241 million Wednesday in public-private partnerships crafted to hasten the U.S. military’s move away from Russian-supplied propulsion…
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Orbital ATK, SpaceX nab U.S. Air Force propulsion contracts
Blue Origin successfully test fires its BE-3 high-performance liquid hydrogen engine thrust chamber at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in this 2012 file photo. Credit: NASA Orbital ATK and SpaceX won Pentagon contracts worth a combined value of up to $241 million Wednesday in public-private partnerships crafted to hasten the U.S. military’s move away from Russian-supplied propulsion…
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Russian engine purchase adds to ULA’s Atlas 5 inventory
File photo of an Atlas 5 first stage with the dual-nozzle RD-180 engine. Credit: United Launch Alliance Freed from a legal restriction officials said limited its ability to compete for future U.S. military satellite launches, United Launch Alliance has ordered 20 new RD-180 engines from Russia that will keep the Atlas 5 rocket flying into…
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Russian engine purchase adds to ULA’s Atlas 5 inventory
File photo of an Atlas 5 first stage with the dual-nozzle RD-180 engine. Credit: United Launch Alliance Freed from a legal restriction officials said limited its ability to compete for future U.S. military satellite launches, United Launch Alliance has ordered 20 new RD-180 engines from Russia that will keep the Atlas 5 rocket flying into…
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ULA sits out Air Force launch competition
File photo of an Atlas 5 rocket launch. Credit: ULA United Launch Alliance said Monday it did not submit a proposal in a competition to launch a U.S. Air Force GPS navigation satellite, apparently relinquishing the contract to rival SpaceX, the only other company certified to launch the mission. The Air Force wanted both companies…
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Boeing rejects bid to buy ULA as engine race heats up
File photo of an Atlas 5 rocket launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Credit: ULA Boeing said Wednesday it has turned down an offer from Aerojet Rocketdyne to buy United Launch Alliance, a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture that operates the Atlas and Delta rocket fleets. The decision keeps ULA’s plan to select a…
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Boeing rejects bid to buy ULA as engine race heats up
File photo of an Atlas 5 rocket launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Credit: ULA Boeing said Wednesday it has turned down an offer from Aerojet Rocketdyne to buy United Launch Alliance, a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture that operates the Atlas and Delta rocket fleets. The decision keeps ULA’s plan to select a…
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ATK expand on its domestic alternative to Atlas V’s RD-180
ATK has provided additional details about its domestic alternative to the Russian-built RD-180 engine currently in use on the venerable Atlas V rocket of United Launch Alliance (ULA). While ULA has aligned with Blue Origin’s BE-4 engine, ATK proposal of a solid-fueled first stage – as a reliable, cost-effective, and commercial alternative to the RD-180…