WASHINGTON, May 08. /ITAR-TASS/. US Government and United Launch Alliance (ULA) requested the Court of Federal Claims on Wednesday to lift its temporary ban on purchasing Russian-designed rocket engines RD-180 for the US Atlas V launch systems.
The ban ruled by judge Susan Braden a week ago is temporary and may be cancelled if the Department of the Treasury, Department of Commerce and Department of State provide a paper that RD-180 supplies do not breach the President’s sanction law. The document, saying that the use of these rocket engines in the US is not in direct or indirect contravention of the sanction legislation, was presented to the judge on the ULA’s request on Wednesday.
It is not only the ULA, a joint venture of the aerospace industry giants Boeing and Lockheed-Martin, that is keen to see the ban lifted but also the Pentagon, or rather the US air force, on whose commission the ULA launches military and spy satellites under exclusive billion dollar contracts.
According to the Pentagon’s Press Secretary, Rear Admiral John Kirby, this program will not be harmed in the foreseeable future, as the US has a stock sufficient for the following two years and contracts for RD-180 supplies from the Moscow region town Khimki for another couple of years. Besides, the temporary ban does not include the contracts already signed.
Complete story at - ITAR-TASS: World - US government asks court to lift ban on Russian rocket engine purchases
The ban ruled by judge Susan Braden a week ago is temporary and may be cancelled if the Department of the Treasury, Department of Commerce and Department of State provide a paper that RD-180 supplies do not breach the President’s sanction law. The document, saying that the use of these rocket engines in the US is not in direct or indirect contravention of the sanction legislation, was presented to the judge on the ULA’s request on Wednesday.
It is not only the ULA, a joint venture of the aerospace industry giants Boeing and Lockheed-Martin, that is keen to see the ban lifted but also the Pentagon, or rather the US air force, on whose commission the ULA launches military and spy satellites under exclusive billion dollar contracts.
According to the Pentagon’s Press Secretary, Rear Admiral John Kirby, this program will not be harmed in the foreseeable future, as the US has a stock sufficient for the following two years and contracts for RD-180 supplies from the Moscow region town Khimki for another couple of years. Besides, the temporary ban does not include the contracts already signed.
Complete story at - ITAR-TASS: World - US government asks court to lift ban on Russian rocket engine purchases
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