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Four RD-180 rocket engines ‘handed over’ to US buyers, says Russian manufacturer

Four Russian-built RD-180 rocket engines have been transferred to their US buyers

© Alexei Filippov/TASS

MOSCOW, October 31. /TASS/. Four Russian-built RD-180 rocket engines have been transferred to their US buyers, the NPO Energomash rocket engine producer said in a website statement on Wednesday.

"Four RD-180 engines have been handed over to buyers. On October 26, 2018, Pratt & Whitney, United Launch Alliance and RD AMROSS singed the engines’ log books," the statement reads.

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During the two weeks preceding the engines’ handover, representatives from the two US companies and the Russian-US joint venture RD AMROSS, along with other representatives from NASA and the US Air Force, had been externally inspecting the engines, checking their spare parts and accompanying documents, NPO Energomash added.

According to the manufacturer, the engines are ready to be sent out. NPO Energomash also said that in April 2018, four RD-180 engines had already been supplied to buyers. "Another three RD-180 engines are expected to be delivered in November," the company noted.

The RD-180 engines that NPO Energomash supplies to the United States are used in the Atlas III and Atlas orbital launch vehicles, while the company also supplies RD-181 engines for the Antares launch system. Contracts concerning the supplies of the two kinds of engines are valid until the end of 2019.

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