Moscow. 24 August. INTERFAX.RU – The stock of Russian RD-180 engines supplied to the United States is sufficient to complete tests of the manned spacecraft Starliner, the head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin told Interfax.
“The Starliner is launched on the Atlas-5 rocket, the first stage of which operates on the RD-180. The number of engines purchased by the American side is sufficient for testing, as well as for use under automatic loading,” Rogozin said, answering the question whether whether the American made a request for additional deliveries of engines.
Earlier it was reported about the postponement of the launch of the manned spacecraft Starliner to the ISS due to problems with valves.
Under a contract with NASA, Boeing received more than $ 5 billion to develop, build and carry out Starliner missions to transport astronauts to the ISS and return them to Earth. It is designed for a crew of up to seven people.
Another American company, SpaceX, under a similar contract with NASA, received $ 3.1 billion to develop its Crew Dragon spacecraft, which has already completed a number of manned flights to the ISS.
Atlas-5 rockets use the Russian RD-180 engine, developed by NPO Energomash. In total, as reported by Roskosmos, 122 engines have been delivered to the United States.
