Lockheed Martin has established an international teaming relationship with the RD AMROSS joint venture that was formed by NPO Energomash and Pratt & Whitney, an operating unit of United Technologies Corporation. The joint venture will co-produce the RD-180 engines under exclusive contract for Lockheed Martin.

The RD-180 engines will be used to boost Lockheed Martin's new Atlas IIAR launch vehicle and the company's candidate for the U.S. Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) family of rockets. NPO Energomash will build the engines in Khimky, Russia, for use on commercial launches. Pratt & Whitney is developing an RD-180 rocket engine manufacturing and assembly facility in West Palm Beach, Fla., where the company will begin co-producing RD-180 components early next year. Engines built by Pratt & Whitney in Florida will be used for launching U.S. government missions.

Lockheed Martin announced recently that it is purchasing up to 101 new RD-180 rocket engines from RD AMROSS, LLC. The total value of the agreement is expected to be approximately $US1 Billion.

"We are extremely pleased by President Yeltsin's important show of support for this international team," said Dr. Raymond S. Colladay, president of Lockheed Martin Astronautics. "His action increases our confidence in the prospects for the success of this key program while bolstering our already strong relationship with NPO Energomash and Pratt & Whitney."

Compared to Lockheed Martin's current Atlas IIAS model, the Atlas IIAR featuring the new RD-180 engine reduces the number of engines that power the rocket from nine to two, with a corresponding reduction in the number of parts by more than 10,000. The simpler and less costly Atlas IIAR will be first launched in December 1998.

The US Air Force envisions that eventually the EELV will replace the existing Delta, Atlas and Titan space launch vehicles for use in launching a wide range of government and commercial payloads. First launch of the EELV is planned for 2001.

The RD-180 is currently undergoing extensive testing at NPO Energomash facilities in Khimky, Russia. Five developmental engines already have been successfully test fired for a total of more than 3,100 seconds. Ten engines will be test fired for a total of approximately 20,000 seconds before the first flight of an Atlas IIAR. During a typical Atlas IIAR mission, the engine would power the booster for 186 seconds.

An RD-180 engine has been sent to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., where it will be assembled to a prototype Atlas IIAR booster stage and fired in December of this year. This will be the first Russian-built rocket engine to be test fired at a U.S. government facility.