Roscosmos Discussing RD-191 Rocket Engine Sale to India

Russian space agency, Roskosmos is discussing with India the  delivery of RD-191 rocket engines, and hopes to sign a contract in the near future.

"Now we are discussing the details, characteristics and scope of deliveries (with India). We hope we will reach a contract in the near future," Andrei Yelchaninov, first deputy head of Roscosmos, said in an interview with Interfax.

On December 13, 2022, State Secretary of Roscosmos Valery Sherin announced that the state corporation is considering the possibility of supplying India with about ten RD-191 rocket engines from 2024 to 2029.

According to him, the supply of engines to India will make it possible to load RD-191 manufacturer, NPO Energomash  with orders.

In July 2019, Yuri Borisov, who was then Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, stated that India intends to import rocket engines from Russia for its national space program.

The RD-191 is a Russian liquid propellant rocket engine designed for launch vehicles of the Angara family. An upgraded version of the RD-191M engine is being created as part of the Amur development work.

On March 3, the former head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, reported that the state corporation was suspending the supply of rocket engines to the United States in response to US sanctions. He also said that Roskosmos would stop maintenance of Russian RD-180 rocket engines already delivered to the United States. Supply of engines to the United States brought about a third of the revenue to the manufacturing enterprise NPO Energomash - about 10-12 billion rubles a year.