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Air Force

Air Force Will Scrub Future Launch Competition Without Access To Additional RD-180s

Pat Host

Wednesday, April 29th, 2015

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Air Force Will Scrub Future Launch Competition Without Access To Additional RD-180s

NASA engineers successfully test the Russian-built RD-180 in 1998 at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Ala. Photo: NASA.

The Air Force vowed to scrub a launch competition between fiscal years 2018 and 2022 if it does not get legislative relief allowing a contractor to bid using the Russian-developed RD-180, service Secretary Deborah James said Wednesday.James told a Senate panel that the Air Force would rather restrict competition than restrict assured access to space. She proposed that Congress allow launch provider United Launch Alliance (ULA) to compete with RD-180s that were ordered, but not fully paid for, before the…

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