KYIV. July 1 (Interfax-Ukraine) – State enterprise Pivdenne Design Bureau (Dnipropetrovsk) is working on a plan to establish cooperation with the United States in building rocket engines, Pivdenne CEO and Chief Designer Oleksandr Dehtiarev has said.
The Ukrainian developer is ready to become a partner in the project initiated by the U.S. government to build rocket engines to replace the Russian built RD-180 used in American carrier rockets.
He said that over the past five years, Pivdenne has been developing liquid-propellant rocket engines for the first stages of carrier rockets that could be effectively used in U.S. carrier rockets.
“The in-depth case study of the U.S. market showed that it is advisable to create a new powerful engine with a drive of 250 tonnes and ligaments for engines with a drive of 500 tonnes and higher,” he said.
“Today the bureau is in negotiations with a number of potential customers and investors from the United States who are interested in this initiative. According to our estimates, this engine could be developed and tested as early as 2019,” Dehtiarev said.
“The U.S.’ interest in Ukrainian engines is explained by the fact that for several reasons American aerospace companies try to get away from the use of Russian RD-180 engines in U.S. carrier rockets. Currently the U.S. government allocates large sums to seek alternative engines,” he said.
