Freshman Alabama U.S. Sen. Luther Strange is winning praise for getting up to speed quickly on an Alabama priority and helping a Huntsville-area rocket manufacturer assure its supply of Russian engines.
United Launch Alliance President and CEO Tory Bruno praised Strange Friday for taking "strong action to protect Alabama jobs" by co-sponsoring an amendment to keep the Russian RD-180 engines coming. ULA assembles rockets in Decatur that lift government and commercial satellites into orbit.
"Without this amendment, ULA would not have had the ability to launch crucial science missions that both NOAA and NASA are depending on for their research," Bruno said.
Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo) introduced the amendment to a bill that would sanction Iran and Russia for Middle East actions the United States considers destabilizing. One company facing the sanctions, NPO Energomash, supplies the RD-180 engine that powers ULA's Atlas 5 rocket and the RD-181 that lifts Orbital ATK's Antares rocket.
ULA and Blue Origin, the rocket company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, are working together on a new rocket engine. But the RD-180 is considered critical to ULA until the new engine comes on line.
Russia critics including U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) have tried to stop the RD-180's importation for several years, but have been blocked by other NASA-state senators including Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala) and Sen. Bill Nelson (R-Fla). Now four months after taking office, Strange is in the fight.
"This amendment today, and the great partnership we've had with the senator from Alabama, has been absolutely critical and instrumental in ensuring a persistent, reliable space presence," amendment sponsor Gardner said in a statement. "I thank the senator from Alabama, Sen. Strange, for his incredible leadership when it comes to making sure that we are able to reach space, and that we are able to continue our space mission, whether it's the defense of this country or understanding where the next tornado may strike."
A NASA spokesman was quoted in a spacenews report saying, "We appreciate the strong, bipartisan support we received as part of the amendment that ensures the continued safe and peaceful exploration of space for current and future missions."
McCain was quoted in the same report saying the amendment is "a giveaway to the Russian military industrial complex."