KHIMKI (Moscow region). Sept 3 (Interfax-AVN) - U.S. producers of launch vehicles think it inexpedient to start licensed production of Russian rocket engines. They received the license in the 1990s, Energomash Director General Dmitry Pakhomov said on Wednesday.
"American producers operating under the aegis of the AmRos joint venture can produce certain parts of our engine, but do not think it rational to start full-scale production," he said.
The RD-180 engine won the tender for the modernized Atlas first stage's propelling system in early 1996.
It was planned to supply the first 50 engines from Russia and to start their production in the U.S. later on. However, the Americans decided it was too expensive to start the production.