spacetoday.net: ULA takes delivery of RD-180 engines

Posted: Thu, Aug 21, 2014, 1:26 PM ET (1726 GMT)
In the latest sign of "business as usual" operations despite ongoing geopolitical issues, United Launch Alliance (ULA) confirmed Wednesday that it took delivery of two more RD-180 engines from Russian company NPO Energomash. The engines were delivered to ULA in Alabama on schedule Wednesday, as expected, company officials said. ULA expects to receive three more RD-180s from Energomash later this year. Access to the RD-180 was put in question this spring, after Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin said Russia would only allow the engines to be used for non-military launches of the Atlas 5 rocket. A federal court also briefly placed an injunction on payments to Energomash in early May out of concerns that those payments could violate US sanctions for Russia's actions in Ukraine. That injunction was lifted after about a week, and Russian officials have made no effort to block RD-180 exports.