The leader of the Senate Armed Services Committee vowed on Wednesday to prohibit the Air Force from launching satellites using Russian-made rocket engines, even as the service said it needs more time to buy the RD-180s to maintain competition.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said he plans on introduce legislation with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy this week to strike language from the fiscal 2016 omnibus that extended how long private companies can buy Russian-made rocket engines for national security space launches.
“It’s the first of many actions I will take this year,” McCain said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Richard Shelby, R-Ala., pushed to delay the ban on purchasing Russian-made rockets past 2019.
There are only two companies capable of launching Air Force satellites into space: SpaceX and United Launch Alliance, which is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing. ULA has a rocket factory in Alabama, hence Shelby’s interest. While SpaceX has its own rocket launch system, ULA relies on the Russian-made RD-180. After the Russian annexation of Ukraine, McCain vowed to rid the program of the Russian engines.
“Today, Russia holds many of our most precious national security satellites at risk before they even get off the ground,” McCain said.
McCain also said that three Russians sanctioned by the U.S. sit on the board of the organization that makes these engines, “subsidizing” Russian President Vladimir Putin and his “cronies” with the purchases.
The Air Force agrees with McCain that the military should end its reliance on Russia, but said it needs more time to develop a U.S.-made replacement to ensure reliable access to space, maintain competition and prevent a monopoly on national security space launches.
“Having access to 18 RD-180s is prudent over the next couple years,” said Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James. “We also recognize very strongly the need to transfer away from Russian engines.”
James and Frank Kendall, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, said the defense policy bill restricts funding for the department to develop a new rocket engine. Both leaders asked Congress to lift that restriction, arguing that working only on a rocket engine will benefit just one launch provider, ULA.
Instead, Kendall asked to be able to use the money to develop an entire launch system.
McCain criticized the military for paying ULA $800 million a year for “doing nothing,” just to keep the company in business to maintain competition.
This large expenditure to prop the company up is especially troubling since ULA didn’t even bid on the most recent launch contract.
“We agree with you that they should be bidding on our launches,” Kendall said.
James said she has asked a legal team to examine potential consequences for skipping the bid, including early termination of a contract with the company to cover government-mandated costs and how an early termination could affect future pricing.
