Russia will not supply Ukraine’s Pivdenmash plant with component parts for Zenit launch vehicles to be used in the Sea Launch project, a source in the rocket and space industry has told Interfax.
The Ukrainian plant will have to build Sea Launch rockets without a number of key component parts manufactured in Russia, and the missing parts will be produced in the United States, the source said.
“If Sea Launch resumes Zenit missions, the control system and the first-stage engine built in Russia will be shipped directly to the United States, bypassing Ukraine, and the launch vehicle will be fully assembled and tested in Long Beach,” he said.
The same procedure may apply in the production of the Zenit LV to put the Lybid satellite into the orbit, the source said.
“The Russian control system and the first-stage engine may be added to the rocket at Baikonur,” he said.
As reported earlier, S7 is set to launch Ukraine’s Zenit rockets from the Sea Launch platform before 2023.
The Makarov Pivdenny Machine Building Plant based in Dnipro, Ukraine, said earlier it would resume production of Zenit rockets for the Sea Launch and Land Launch international projects.
