Russia to sell China rocket engines?
The competition heats up: Russia is negotiating with China to sell them Russian rocket engines.
No deal has been made, but it appears that Russia, faced with the possibility that it might lose the U.S. as a customers, is shopping its product around.
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The competition heats up: Russia is negotiating with China to sell them Russian rocket engines.
No deal has been made, but it appears that Russia, faced with the possibility that it might lose the U.S. as a customers, is shopping its product around.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
I find it entirely ridiculous that the United States Of America needs to purchase rocket engines from Russia, or anyone else for that matter. And I have great respect for the Russians and their technology, that’s not my point.
What do I not understand about this? Is it purely related to cost of production per unit, or is their rocket engine technology that much more superior and or reliable than ours?
The reason ULA has been buying Russian engines is probably two-fold: One, they do cost less. Two, ULA has been lazy and not pressured to compete with anyone or innovate for decades. To save money they took the easy route, buying Russian engines, rather than find a way to make them cheaper themselves.
Russian rocket engines are good, but they don’t really have any specific advantage over anyone else. For example, SpaceX’s Merlin engine is probably superior, but SpaceX is not selling that engine to other companies.
Thank you, and you anticipated my next question: Who makes Space X’s engines? I have to believe that Musk’s investment in the design and production capability will ensure his dominance into the foreseeable future.
I think I saw the 3D printed engines for their capsule here, a beautiful piece of engineering and production. I think they use 3D laser scintering to build all of the parts for the engines.
http://3dprint.com/4740/spacex-dragon-2-3d-print/
Unlimited future potential related to shapes, simplicity in design and level of part complexity.
https://youtu.be/yKnlmfuMSgo
https://youtu.be/cRE-PzI6uZA
SpaceX makes SpaceX’s engines.