Chairman of the Senate Committee on
Armed Services, he is one of the lead defenders and proponents of all things
military.
McCain, McCarthy Team Up to Ban
Russian Rocket Engines: “Two Republican powerhouses (Senate Armed
Services Committee Chairman John McCain [Ariz.] and House Majority Leader Kevin
McCarthy [Calif.]) teamed up Wednesday to introduce a bill that would stop U.S.
military reliance on Russian-made rocket engines (RD-180) for its national
security space launches.”
Except you
can’t actually end our reliance on Russian rockets - unless you have a viable
alternative ready to go. The United States does not. As McCain’s Senate
colleague Richard Shelby (R-AL) points out: “Given the
current volatility of our relationship with Russia, our nation needs to develop
a reliable, American alternative to the RD-180 as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, that may not be for another four to five years at best.”
How important
to what we do is the RD-180? “Today,
approximately two-thirds of our military, intelligence community, scientific
and weather satellites are launched into orbit on the Atlas 5, which uses the
Russian RD-180 rocket engine.”
So, Senator
McCain wanting to immediately ban this vital rocket component is terrible for
the military. And it isn't just me saying it - again,Senator Shelby:
“(R)ecklessly restricting the use of the RD-180 in the near-term will undermine
both national security and the prospects for real competition in the military
launch business.”
What does
Senator McCain propose we purchase instead?
“Sen. McCain pushed these restrictions in close coordination with SpaceX, which
stands much to gain by eliminating competition. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was
recently certified for some of these launches by the Air Force, albeit under
intense political pressure from the Obama administration….SpaceX has…suffered
numerous delays and anomalies. Shortly after the Air Force’s certification of
the Falcon 9, a catastrophic failure in June led to the complete loss of both
the vehicle and all of its taxpayer-funded cargo, thus grounding the vehicle.
The company was already over two years late developing the Falcon 9 and now has
a substantial backlog of its current launch schedule, which raises the question
of what the launch priorities will be if it does resume flights.” Source
