
The fiscal year 2015 defense spending bill passed Tuesday by the House Appropriations Committee (HAC) includes $220 million for a next-generation liquid rocket engine. Momentum has been building on Capitol Hill for a new engine as Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin reportedly threatened to cut off supplies of the critical RD-180 engine if used, as it currently is, in Defense Department space launches. DoD officials have said they have not received official notice from Russia that engine supplies would…