World Events Discussion

[fishweed]

Russia halts rocket exports to US,

While the space station is the most visible sign of the superpowers' collaboration, it is the loss of the RD-180 engines that will really hurt, according to space commentator Brian Harvey, who has reported on the Russian space programme since the 1970s.

"For the Americans not to take RD-180s any more would probably be quite disruptive of their space programme in the medium-term," he says. This is because of the time it would take to develop a replacement.

"Most people don't realise just how advanced and powerful Russian rocket engines are," says Harvey.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/may/15/us-space-military-programme-russia-sanctions