AF Begins Search To Replace Russian Rocket-Launch Systems

The Air Force is seeking bidders to produce a replacement system for the Russian RD-180 propulsion systems that are used on Atlas V rockets for space launches. “The end goal of our strategy is to have two or more domestic, commercially viable launch providers that also meet national security space requirements,” said Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, the Air Force’s Program Executive Officer for Space and the Commander of the Air Force Smace Command’s Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif.  “This is essential in order to solidify U.S. assured access to space, transition the EEV program away from strategic foreign reliance, and support the U.S. launch industry’s commercial viability in the global market.”