"Over 70% of the equipment is over 20 years old. Renewal proceeds at a slow pace and retooling is necessary. At the same time, there are the first portents in each shop - Russian and foreign-made precision machine tools," Vyacheslav Davidenko, official spokesman for the Russian Space Agency, quoted Anatoly Perminov as saying.
In spite of problems, Energomash is still among the leading Russian makers of spacecraft engines.
Thanks to investments in the RD-180 project, Energomash in 1999 developed and July 2001 began to streamline the RD-191 engine for a new family of Russian carrier rockets, Angara. But, financial headaches directly tell on the program's deadline.
Energomash has also tested the three-component RD-704 experimental plant.
For the first time in the history of engine making, the possibility of burning three components in one fire space at a high firing efficiency has been confirmed. Experimental research into a promising and very economical engine scheme with closed-loop turbine drive is underway, too.
Within the framework of international cooperation, Energomash is doing much work on contracts with foreign companies. Under the Volna program, preliminary research has been done with European companies to develop a liquid-propellant oxygen-methane rocket engine for a new generation of multiple-use space transport systems at the demonstration level.
In the opinion of Anatoly Perminov, the lack of a young personnel is among Energomash's main problems.
"Only 20% of the total are workers under 40. Labor retention work at Energomash is, I think, too sluggish," he said.
Anatoly Perminov also noted that the non-military work load on Energomash production capacities is very low, "only 5% of the total, which makes its economic performance unstable and wholly dependent on the domestic and foreign launch markets".
Led by general designer Boris Katorgin, Energomash is known, among other things, for the development and manufacture of the unique rocket engine RD-180 for the American booster Atlas. The first batch-produced RD-180 was supplied to the United States in early 1999. Twenty three such engines have been made and passed to the customer, eight flying launches of Atlas have been a success.
The Glushko Energomash Scientific-Industrial Association was established on May 15, 1929. Its main units today are design offices with branches in the cities of Samara and Perm. They carry out design follow-up of the engine manufacture for the Zenit, Soyuz and Proton carrier rockets. The St.Petersburg unit of Energomash is working on continuous chemical laser.
Energomash has a pilot-production plant ensuring batch production of RD-171/171M, RD-180 engines; a test complex with a unique bench rig for all kinds of tests of large-capacity rocket engines and chemical lasers.
