Call it the Crimea conundrum or the Putin problem: the United States needs Russia’s RD-180 rocket engine for national security-oriented satellite launches.
The U.S. Air Force recently confirmed that Elon Musk’s private company SpaceX has completed the first of three missions required to qualify for carrying National Security Space payloads, but as of now the sole certified provider for such tasks belongs to a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co. — and Atlas V boosters need the Russian technology, Military.com reported.
“The partnership we’ve had with Russia [for] that engine has been very important, I think, to both of us, but there are number of concerns the Air Force has and others have anytime we’re relying on such an important piece of equipment from vendors outside of the United States,” Air Force Undersecretary Eric Fanning said during a breakfast with reporters on Tuesday in Washington, the defense website reported.
“It’s been a solid partnership for years now,” Mr. Fanning continued. “We have enough of those engines to support launches well into 2016 but are monitoring closely any suggestions that are taking place in the current bilateral situation that might impact our supply.”
Mr. Musk put it more bluntly while speaking to the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee last week.
“The Atlas V cannot assure access to space when it relies on President Putin’s permission to enter space,” the billionaire businessman said, Military.com reported.
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On Thursday, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said a “a very serious series of steps” would occur if the Crimean Peninsula, currently occupied by Russian military hardware and thousands of troops, votes to rejoin Russia. He did not get into specifics as to what those steps might be, only saying to a Senate Appropriations Committee panel that there would be “a response of some kind.”
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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