Lockheed Questions Need for Domestic RD-180

Space News | 04-22-2002

[boris]

Source: Space News, April 22, 2002, page 3

Lockheed Questions Need for Domestic RD-180

Lockheed Martin is laying the groundwork to establish a U.S. production line for the Russian­heritage main engine for its Atlas 5 rocket, but holding off on any ma­jor investments toward that end amid doubts that such a capability ultimately will be necessary, according to a senior company official.

Michael C. Gass, vice president of Atlas and Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) programs at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., Denver, said the money the U.S. Air Force is contemplating investing in the domestic manufacturing capability might be better spent elsewhere in support of the Pentagon's goal of assured access to space.

Currently the powerful RD-180 engine is produced exclusively in Russia. Lockheed Martin's plans are to build up a stockpile of RD­180s so the Atlas 5 can continue to launch even if the supply of the Russian-built engines is cut off, Gass said.

The stockpile will be sufficient to cover the time it would take to begin producing the engines in the United States, Gass said. The Atlas 5 is one of two rocket families developed under the Air Force's EELV program, which is designed to handle the vast majority of the government's launch needs for the foreseeable future. The other EELV rocket is the Delta 4 built by Boeing Expendable Launch Systems of Huntington Beach, Calif.

The Atlas 5's first stage is powered by the RD-180, which is derived from the RD-170 engine designed and built by NPO Energomash of Khimki, Russia. Pratt & Whitney Space Propulsion of West Palm Beach, Fla., participated in the development of the RD-180, which also powers the first stage of Lockheed Martin's Atlas 3 rocket.

In the early phases of the EELV program, Lockheed Martin proposed having two sources for RD­180s, one at Energomash and one in the West Palm Beach area. Energomash was to produce the engine for commercial Atlas launches, while domestically-built versions would be used in U.S. govermnent missions.

That plan was in keeping with Air Force guidelines developed in 1995, which required that there be a domestic production capability for any rocket engine used to launch U.S. national security payloads. The policy was designed to ensure that the United States maintains an independent launch capability even if relations with Russia turn sour.

Things have changed since the policy was written, Gass said in an interview at his offices here. Originally, he said, the Air Force planned to finance the development of just one EELV rocket family. But in 1997, the service, in anticipation of a robust commercial launch market, changed course, opting to back two competing EELV families.

Now that the Air Force has both the Atlas 5 and Delta 4 at its disposal, the need for the domestic source of RD-180 engines has diminished, Gals said. The probability of having both vehicles unavailable to launch national security payloads at any given time is remote, he said. Gass also noted that the business proposition Lockheed Martin originally laid out for the Russians has changed significantly. As a result, the two sides have had to modify their arrangements for exchanging and training personnel related to the RD-180 program, he said.

Just a few years ago, a healthy commercial launch market was expected to fuel a steady demand for Russian-built RD-180s. But the commercial market has floundered, meaning business for Energomash will not be as brisk as had been expected. "The cost in both places goes up significantly because we have fixed costs," Gals said.

Nevertheless, Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney are taking the steps needed to ensure that they are prepared to mobilize rapidly for domestic RD-180 production, should that become necessary, Gals said.

Data and documentation related to the RD-180 are being translated into English and Pratt & Whitney is working to replicate the processes and materials used to build the en­gine.

Once those preparations are complete, Pratt & Whitney would be capable of establishing an RD­180 production capability within two to three years, Gass said. Lockheed Martin, meanwhile, will stockpile seven or eight Russian­built engines to cover that time period, he said.

Larry D. Knauer, president of Pratt & Whitney Space Propulsion and Russian Operations, said his company has received all of the technical data necessary to produce the RD-180 in the United States, and is having those documents translated into English.

Air Force Undersecretary Peter B. Teets, who has raised the possibility of financing domestic production of the RD-180 to help ensure that the Pentagon does not find itself without a way to launch critical national security payloads, has yet to be convinced by Lock­heed Martin's argument.

In a brief interview April 10 at the National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo., Teets said he still envisions RD-180 engines being produced in the United States.

Pratt & Whitney, meanwhile, hopes to convince NASA that the RD-180 could play a role in the Space Launch Initiative, the agency's multibillion-dollar effort to design a next-generation reusable launcher, Knauer said. Pratt & Whitney is part of a team that is developing engine concepts for such a vehicle under a contract with NASA

NASA officials have said Space Launch Initiative design efforts are now focused on a two-stage vehicle whose first stage engines are fueled by liquid hydrogen or kerosene. The RD-180 is a kerosene-fueled engine.