Roscosmos State Corporation is studying the issue of sending ten RD-191 rocket engines to India in 2024-2029. The deliveries will provide “very significant off-budget sources of funding for the development of the already domestic space program.” This was announced by the Deputy General Director for the implementation of state powers of the state corporation Valery Sherin.
“In the period from 2024 to 2029, we are considering the possibility of supplying about ten RD-191 rocket engines manufactured by NPO Energomash,” Mr. Sherin said at an expanded meeting of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy (quoted by RBC).
In July 2019, India’s plans to receive Russian rocket engines from Roscosmos for the national space program were announced by Yuri Borisov, who then held the post of Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. Mr. Borisov did not name the engine type.
Vedomosti, citing top managers of defense industry enterprises, reported that the engines could be liquid-propellant RD-180s manufactured by Energomash. Later, the head of the company, Igor Arbuzov, told RBC that the NPO was discussing with Indian representatives the development of cooperation in the field of engine building.
RD-191 is a single-chamber liquid-propellant rocket engine that runs on non-toxic components. The engine was developed for the Angara family of Russian launch vehicles. RD-180 is a two-chamber closed-cycle liquid-propellant rocket engine used in the Atlas-5 launch vehicle.