Russian rocket engines key to US ‘assured access to space’ – space command chief

The US can’t quit buying Russian RD-180 rocket engines for heavy lifting until it produces an engine with similar capabilities, chief of the US Space Command said. This follows frantic calls by Republican Senator John McCain to terminate the contract.

“Why in the world would anyone think we would want to continue dependency on Russian rocket engines, which traces up to the corrupt mafia that is around Vladimir Putin?” McCain told the Daily Beast this week after a group of fellow Republicans made the departure from Russian engines impossible for the 2016 fiscal year.

This is not the first time the senator has lashed out at US dealings with Russia. But after the outbreak of violence in Ukraine, he was the leading figure behind the legislation enforcing the rapid phase out of the RD-180 engines that have powered the Atlas V rocket, used in most US launches for the past two decades .... http://rt.com/usa