Comments on: Government files motion to lift RD-180 injunction

By: Fred Willett

Fred Willett — Thu, 08 May 2014 06:17:19 +0000

Except they believe it can’t be done economically.

By: Neil

Neil — Thu, 08 May 2014 01:32:11 +0000

Ok I was being lazy and lumping the bureaucracy in with the politicians. Apologies.

By: Lars

Lars — Wed, 07 May 2014 22:46:19 +0000

Absolutely nothing is stopping them. (or Boeing)

By: Jim Nobles

Jim Nobles — Wed, 07 May 2014 22:25:13 +0000

So, as of right now (5:20 pm Central) The Government basically told the Judge that since they didn’t say any of the ULA money was making its way to a sanctioned party there is no need to keep ULA from sending more money?

But the Judge has not yet lifted the injunction? Is there another issue?

By: Vladislaw

Vladislaw — Wed, 07 May 2014 22:24:52 +0000

What is stopping or stopped Lockheed Martin from working on flyback technology?

By: Gary Warburton

Gary Warburton — Wed, 07 May 2014 17:41:29 +0000

Doublespeak abounds, according to certain politicians it was Obama who cancelled the shuttle. Say these things enough and it becomes the truth.

By: Michael Kent

Michael Kent — Wed, 07 May 2014 16:34:31 +0000

“My guess is that ULA would love to be working on fly-back re-usable first stages and new engines.”

Maybe so, but they can’t, and they won’t. It’s not in their charter.

By: E.P. Grondine

E.P. Grondine — Wed, 07 May 2014 15:03:07 +0000

Hi DBN –

My guess is that the NSA is very busy right now.

They’ve even placed a help wanted ad.

By: E.P. Grondine

E.P. Grondine — Wed, 07 May 2014 15:00:00 +0000

Some guesses:

Since Griffin allowed Bush Jr. to waste $8 billion of the NASA budget on ATK’s Ares 1, Sen McCain and the other members will likely fund this through the DoD budget.

If things continue, China will likely be approaching Russia to buy all the military and space tech it can. This will likely include all of the research on the fly-back Zenit.

I do not think that China will partner with Russia alone on space projects.

If ISS goes down, will NASA HSF?

What will Europe (as in the “f*** the EU Europe) do about the whole mess?

There is more to space than manned flight to Mars.

By: Dark Blue Nine

Dark Blue Nine — Wed, 07 May 2014 14:27:56 +0000

Politics isn’t honest, but this isn’t politics. It’s sanctions enforcement, judicial proceedings, and lazy bureaucracy. Either Rogozin is or is not benefitting from RD-180 sales. State and Treasury shouldn’t be allowed to sidestep that determination by saying that they’ve failed to do their homework. In an age where the NSA is practically recording every phone call and email on the planet, it should be possible to track down the relevant exchanges, put them in front of an interpreter, and determine whether rubles from RD AMROSS or NPO Energomash are flowing to Rogozin.

If the USG can’t make these determinations in order to enforce its own sanctions, then there’s no point to the sanctions. The sanctions are supposed to create pain for and put pressure on Putin’s inner circle. If the departments responsible for enforcing these sanctions refuse to determine the sources of income for Putin’s inner circle, then those departments will never be able to put pressure on Putin’s inner circle.

I imagine the judge just wanted bureaucratic boilerplate to cover the court’s arse on this issue after the SpaceX petition raised it. But it would be nice to see the judiciary hold these bureaucracies accountable and tell them to go back and do their homework.

This issue is much bigger than RD-180 or the space sector. Are the Russian sanctions just feel-good measures or are we actually going to enforce something?