The US will continue buying Russian rocket engines
The US senate has approved the purchase of 18 Russian RD-180 rocket engines through 2022.
On Friday, June 10 the US Senate reached an agreement to continue purchase of the Russian RD-180 rocket engines. According to the Russian Sputnik News Agency, Senator Richard Shelby said “We have worked it out”, referring to a debate over the language in the 2017 defense spending bill about the purchase of the Russian rockets engines.
"The deal is 2022 and 18 rockets, similar to the House [defense bill]," the Senator added.
Previously, the chief engineer of the Russian state corporation Energomash ,Vladimir Chvanov, said that his company is ready to ship the RD-180s to the US.
The US Congress had previously approved a ban on the use of the Russian rocket engines for military purposes after 2019. The decision was made after the Russian annexation of the Crimea in 2014. However, the ban was lifted in the 2016 budget bill, which is valid until October 2016.
The government of the United States has announced that it is looking to replace the Russian rocket engines.
The Russian RD-180 engine is used in Atlas V rocket which brings satellites into orbit.