The U.S. Federal Claims Court on May 8 lifted a previously issued injunction that prevented United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing, from buying Russian-made RD-180 rocket engines, according to Oleg Ostapenko, head of Russia’s space agency Roskosmos.
Despite all the talks on the sanctions against Russia, American court decided not to follow this policy direction. One of the key arguments agains sanctions refers to the potential losses which they might bring to the Western companies. However, particularly in this case, U.S.-based SpaceX could significantly benefit, but court made a different choice.
Private
spaceflight company SpaceX filed a suit against the U.S. government objecting monopolistic
supplies by United Launch Alliance, claiming that it funnels money from
American taxpayers to Russia’s military industrial complex and potentially to
those under U.S. sanctions because of the Ukrainian crisis.
California-based
SpaceX argues that it could provide locally produced rockets for the government
needs at a much cheaper price. Company belongs to billionaire Elon Musk,
founder and chief executive officer of Tesla, world’s leading electrocar
producer.
Russian
engines that ULA purchases are produced by Energomash, a company affiliated
with Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who is the target of the
U.S. sanctions.
These
deals are costing “U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars for no reason and to add
salt to the wound, the primary engine used is a Russian engine,” said Musk,
commenting on the issue.
“It’s
very questionable in light of international events. It seems like the wrong
time to send hundreds of millions of dollars to the Kremlin,” he added.
Responding
to this, Rogozin wrote in his Twitter account, “After analyzing the sanctions
against our space industry, I suggest to the USA to bring their astronauts to
the International Space Station using a trampoline.”
On April
30 U.S. federal judge Susan Braden issued an order that temporarily blocks
American Air Force from buying the Russian engines, referring to the sanctions
against Rogozin.
However,
on May 8 court has received documents from the federal government which say that
cooperation with Russia’s Energomash does not violate the sanctions introduced
against Rogozin. As a result, the very same day ULA got its right to purchase
Russian engines back.
Nevertheless,
Rogozin said Russia would restore engine supplies if they will be used for
civilian payloads only. Moreover, he said Russian Federation will not extend
its role in the International Space Station beyond 2020. Rogozin added, that
his country will also shut the U.S. GPS navigation stations on its territory
unless America allows to install analogous Russian stations under Glonass
project in the States.
Kyiv Post associate business editor Ivan
Verstyuk can be reached at [email protected].
