undefined | Better HN

0 pointswalkabilitee1y ago0 comments

In case anyone asks, "why don't they just build more Atlas V rockets," it's because they rely on Russian engines which have been phased out due to politics:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RD-180

0 comments

dotnet001y ago

Plus, the production lines for Atlas V have already been retooled with those for Vulcan, so even if they did have the engines, they couldn't make the rockets.

IIRC ULA did have a license to manufacture their own domestic RD-180s (or was considering getting it), but the factory for those would've been very expensive and not worth it with Vulcan in its early design stages.

panick21_1y ago

I don't think the line has been retooled. They still have to build a number of Atlas 5s for Amazon. They don't have all of those in storage.

dotnet001y ago

That's a very good point, I could've sworn Tory Bruno had said that the line had been retooled and all the remaining cores were in storage, but the closest tweet to that seems to be referring to having the engines in storage.

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointswalkabilitee1y ago0 comments

In case anyone asks, "why don't they just build more Atlas V rockets," it's because they rely on Russian engines which have been phased out due to politics:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RD-180

0 comments

dotnet001y ago

Plus, the production lines for Atlas V have already been retooled with those for Vulcan, so even if they did have the engines, they couldn't make the rockets.

panick21_1y ago

I don't think the line has been retooled. They still have to build a number of Atlas 5s for Amazon. They don't have all of those in storage.

dotnet001y ago

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse