Lockheed Martin has agreed an exclusive contract to buy 101 Russian RD-108 rocket engines worth $1 billion from RD AMROSS, the joint venture of Russia's NPO Energomash and Pratt & Whitney.
The engines will be used on the Atlas 2AR satellite launcher to be operated by ILS International Launch Services, the joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Russian companies Khrunichev and Energia. The 2AR will have its maiden flight in December 1998.
The engines will also be used on commercial missions flown by the fleet of Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELV), should Lockheed win the $2 billion US Air Force EELV contract in June 1998.
The winner of the EELV contract - the other contender is McDonnell Douglas - will become a sole-source supplier of a fleet of boosters, which could result in commercial revenues of $30 billion in 30 years.
The Russian engines will be built by NPO Energomash at Khimky, and at P&W's West Palm Beach factory, in Florida. P&W plans to open an RD-180 manufacturing building in West Palm Beach and, should the EELV contract be won by Lockheed Martin, it will build the RD-180 engines to power any government launches, meeting US Government conditions.
Lockheed Martin has entered into a teaming arrangement with RD AMROSS which includes undisclosed investment in the new Florida plant.
Israel Aircraft Industry (IAI) has joined with US company, Coleman Research of Orlando, Florida, to market and launch a version of its three-stage Shavit satellite booster. It is also expected to sign a deal with Thiokol to enable the US company to load the solid propellant for the first two stages and provide a Star 48 motor for the third stage. IAI is also expected to form a partnership with Matra Marconi Space to market another version of the Shavit for low-Earth orbit flights.
Arianespace's backlog of satellites to be launched has increased to 42 after the receipt of an order to launch one satellite each for Sweden and the USA, and two for a customer which "-does not wish to be identified" for the moment. The Swedish Sirius 3 satellite will be launched in 1998. The US Telstar 6 will be aboard an Ariane 5 in 1999.
Source: Flight International
