ZHUHAI (China). Nov 2 (Interfax-AVN) – The new owners of the Sea Launch project, which has until recently been using Zenit Russian-Ukrainian launch vehicles powered with RD-170 engines, are expecting to resume the launch program as early as in 2018, NPO Energomash General Director Igor Arbuzov told Interfax-AVN on Tuesday on the Airshow China-2016 sidelines.
“If the launch vehicle is not replaced and if we are invited to cooperate, we will be ready to meet the company’s demand for engines,” he said, answering a question as to how long it would take to resume RD-170/171 production given the plans to reanimate the Sea Launch project.
Sea Launch Group members (subsidiaries and lower-tier subsidiaries of Energia Corporation) and S7 Group entered into a contract for the purchase of the Sea Launch Commander ship, the Odyssey launch platform and gear, and the Sea Launch trademark on September 27 during the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) 2016 in Guadalajara (Mexico).
Sea Launch International Consortium, established in 1995, used to launch Zenit-3SL rockets from the floating platform deployed in the equatorial Pacific. Following reorganization in 2010, Energia Overseas Limited (EOL), a subsidiary of Energia Corporation, acquired a 95% stake in the company, while U.S. Boeing received 3% and Norway’s Aker Solutions got 2%. The company was headquartered in Nyon, Switzerland, until recently.
The Zenit-3SL launch vehicle consists of the Zenit-2S two-stage rocket (created by Yuzhnoye (Pivdenne) Design Bureau and built by Yuzhmash (Pivdenmash) in Ukraine mostly using Russian-made component parts) and the DM-SL booster unit designed and manufactured by Energia Corporation in Korolyov, Moscow region.
As many as 36 Zenit-3SL missions, including 33 successful, have been accomplished under the Sea Launch program.
