Продажа РД-180

From a 2008 ULA Newsletter:

After close coordination with our U.S. Air Force customer, the RD-180 engine co-production program was concluded this July. The Air Force recommended to the Department of Defense (DoD) continued use of the RD-180 engine on the Atlas V vehicle without a full U.S. production facility. ULA will continue to supply sufficient RD-180 inventories to ensure access to space for our customer and the nation.

During an appreciation dinner July 31 in West Palm Beach, Fla., Atlas Propulsion Director Greg Pech delivered words of thanks and praise to a group of RDAMROSS and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) employees as the RD-180 coproduction program successfully came to a close. RD-180 Program Manager Broc Cote was also in attendance, along with leaders from PWR and RDAMROSS, and ULA resident team members Tom Casey, Curt Ingram and J.R. Michalowski who have overseen co-production activities in West Palm Beach since the program’s inception in 1997.

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The decision was made to conclude the program, partly because of the commercial market downturn. The resulting lower launch rate did not provide a robust business case for building a U.S. production facility. Also, the standup of ULA means that we can offer our customers assured access through the ability to integrate Atlas V payloads onto Delta IV and vice versa.