The U.S. Senate is debating the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act this week with the goal of passing the bill by the end of the week. One of the key provisions in the current draft of the bill is to limit the Department of Defense to purchasing only 9 more Russian RD-180 rocket engines. Those engines power the first stage of the Atlas V, the workhorse rocket used to launch critical national security satellites.

Sens. Cory Gardner and Bill Nelson have proposed an amendment that would provide relief from this restriction, recognizing that the current draft legislation would significantly harm the national security space program. The Senate Appropriations Committee appears to favor a similar loosening of the arbitrary Armed Services Committee restriction.