SpaceX, a private space development corporation, has won an injunction against the U.S. Air Force. The court order prevents the Department of Defense from purchasing engines built in Russia.
The RD-180 engines were scheduled for purchase by The United Launch Alliance (ULA), a partnership of Lockheed-Martin and Boeing. That group contracts with government agencies, including NASA, to provide orbital services for unmanned payloads.
SpaceX officials claimed the Air Force had entered into a contract with ULA which would have resulted in the purchase of rocket engines from Russia.
Rockets used for ULA launches include Atlas 5 and Delta 4 boost vehicles. While the Delta craft uses an American-made RS-68 engine, the Atlas 5 is powered by the RP-1, built in Russia.
Since the invasion of the Crimea by forces under the command of Vladimir Putin, Moscow and Washington have engaged in a series of tit-for-tat embargoes.
Elon Musk founded SpaceX after creating PayPal. His team argued that his company could deliver military payloads to orbit for less money, but they were not allowed to compete for the contract. Air Force officials claim SpaceX did not meet the requirements to be awarded the work.
"We're just protesting and saying these launches should be competed. And if we compete and lose, that's fine, but why were they not even competed?" Musk asked reporters at a press conference.
Since the retirement of the space shuttle, the United States needed to depend on private corporations and other nations to send astronauts to orbit. The space agency is increasingly using non-government organizations like SpaceX to deliver satellites to orbit as well.
Dmitry Rogozin, the deputy prime minister of Russia, suggested to the United States that the country could use a trampoline to get to space. Rogozin is one of the people named in American embargoes. Executive order 13,661 prevents companies from doing business with the official. The complaint against the DoD alleges that because he is head of the Russian space program, Rogozin could benefit financially from purchases of the engines.
Request for the injunction was filed on 28 May, and the order was handed down two days later, by Judge Susan G. Braden.
The court order is effective immediately, and will last "unless and until the court receives the opinion of the United States Department of the Treasury, and the United States Department of Commerce and United States Department of State, that any such purchases or payments will not directly or indirectly contravene Executive Order 13,661," court papers read.
