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My understanding was also that they had many Russian rockets warehoused for national security launches.
by furyg3 12y ago
My understanding was also that they had many Russian rockets warehoused for national security launches.
- dm2 12y ago2-3 years worth of Russian engines, but the contracts were for 5+ years, so if Russia banned exports of rockets to the US then we could be screwed without SpaceX or scrambling to produce our own engines at a much greater cost (most likely). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWVZYKGTenE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWVZYKGTenE
- runlevel1 12y agoBased on the testimony in that video: The Delta IV and Atlas V have overlapping use cases. The Russian engine (RD-180) is only used in the Atlas V. So it would seem that they could shift to the Delta IV once the stockpile runs out. They also have the blueprints and specs for the RD-180. It would take a lot of time and money to ramp up production, but not as much as if they were building a new engine from scratch. That said, I do agree that the US would probably be screwed (in the wallet) without SpaceX.