State Enterprise "Yuzhny Machine-Building Plant named after Makarov (Yuzhmash) signed a new contract with American partners under the Antares program of the US National Space Agency (NASA). We are talking about orders for the manufacture of the main structure of the first stage (OKPS) No. 21 and 22.
The press service of the Ukrainian rocket plant noted that the situation was uncertain for a long time, since the future of the project depended on the position of NASA.
“Now the expectations are over, our customer has decided on the configuration of the launch vehicle, which made it possible to conclude an agreement. Moreover, additional confirmation from NASA is expected, after which it will be possible to agree on the production of several more OKPS ", - said in Yuzhmash.
“In many ways, our perspective was determined by how we will show ourselves in 2021 on products 17 and 18,” explained Konstantin Zavgorodniy, First Deputy General Director for Economics and Finance.
“Americans are very demanding about things like contract compliance, especially with regard to timing, alignment of all technical details, and organizational formalities. Many nuances arise not only during production, but also during the delivery of products to the customer. The workers of the plant (each at his own site) tried not to let him down. We met the deadline and the reception went smoothly. For which we are very grateful to the entire team, "said the top manager of the enterprise.
The signed contract will allow loading the main capacities of Yuzhmash for the next two to three years. However, this is clearly not enough to revive the space potential of Ukraine. At the same time, this year, additional (and very solid) contracts were signed with the Antonov company for the manufacture of landing gear sets for An-178 aircraft and expansion of cooperation in aviation.
