Russia to design next generation of RD-180 rocket engines - Roscosmos head

Russia is set to design a next generation of RD-180 rocket engines, which will successfully compete against foreign analogues, Roscosmos head Igor Komarov has said.

"We also need to pay attention to the development of a next generation of RD-180 engines, which are fail-proof and unique by their reliability and price-quality ratio," Komarov said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel (VGTRK).

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Domestic engines will stay competitive for 'a number of years' and will be in great demand, but new engines, which will be superior to RD-180s, also need to be developed, he said.

"Given the reforms and the formation of an engine building holding, there is a task to develop a next generation of engines, which will become a replacement and will be in demand, at a new technological level and with new features," the state corporation head said.