United Launch Alliance (ULA) has completed preliminary design review (PDR) for a launch vehicle dubbed the Vulcan Centaur, ULA President Tory Bruno said in a press release on Thursday.

In 2014, the US Congress passed a law demanding the United States phase out its reliance on the Russian-made RD-180 rocket engines to send heavy payloads in space.

"The completion of the Vulcan Centaur rocket's PDR is the first of several major and very exciting milestones in the launch vehicle's development," Bruno stated. "We have a strong path to get to a 2019 flight test of this new, highly-capable American launch vehicle."

In the two years after implementing a purchasing ban on the RD-180 engines, Congress has been forced to lift the ban on the Rd-180 to ensure the United States access to space.

The ULA's program manager for major development Mark Peller noted that the new launch vehicle will ensure US access to space with an engine made in the United States.

"Vulcan Centaur will revolutionize spaceflight and provide affordable, reliable access to space with an American main engine," Peller said.

The ULA intends to build upon the review and test key elements of the design, according to the press release.

++ US Should Use More Cost-Effective Russian-Made RD-180Engine - Carter The United States should use the Russian-made RD-180 rocket engine to launch national security payloads into space because it is the most cost-effective alternative, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said in congressional testimony on Thursday.

"We have to have a way to launch our national security payloads into space," Carter stated. "One way to do that... is to continue to use the Atlas booster, including a limited but continuing number of RD-180 engines, notwithstanding the fact we don't like the fact that they're made in Russia."

The Department of Defense is recommending this approach because replacing the RD-180 rocket engine would give it a bill of one billion dollars or more.

In 2014, US Congress passed a law demanding the United States phase out its reliance on the Russian-made RD-180 rocket engines.

However, in the two years after implementing a purchasing ban on the RD-180 engines, Congress has been forced to lift that ban to ensure the United States access to space.

Source: Sputnik News