Chumminess, between Russia and China, is Something to be Worried About.

Russia now looking to sell its prized rocket engines to China

Ever since the Crimean crisis in 2014-precipitated by Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian-held peninsula-Congress has increased pressure on the US aerospace industry to end its use of Russian-made rocket engines. In particular, legislators want United Launch Alliance to stop using the RD-180 engine in its Atlas V launch vehicle.

From article, (As United Launch Alliance plans to transition to US-made engines early next decade, and with other US rockets already flying or soon coming online, the Russian RD-180 manufacturers are looking to other markets. In doing so, they've found willing buyers in China, although this has come with some concerns.

Even though the rocket engine technology behind the RD-180 is 40 years old, it remains one of the highest performing engines in the world, with a near-perfect service record. With 860,000 pounds of thrust (about 3.8MN), the RD-180 also happens to be three times more powerful than any Chinese rocket engine.

The Financial Times has a new report on negotiations for the engine technology between Russia's NPO Energomash and the China Great Wall Industry Corporation. These discussions have been closely tracked by both Western officials and those in Russia.

For the United States and its allies, there is the concern that China's use of the engine technology will extend beyond peaceful uses in space. It is believed that China wants the powerful and efficient engines for a new generation of ballistic missiles that could target US aircraft carriers.

In Russia, too, there is wariness because China doesn't just want to buy engines as a customer, as United Launch Alliance did with the RD-180 for its rockets. Rather, they want to eventually build the engines themselves.)


For More Info

Watch out! Tesla Model 3 are Coming.

Tesla expands Model 3 configuration invites, sends out new display car

As Tesla is attempting to more than double its Model 3 production rate during this quarter, it has been expanding the range of deliveries outside of California. We now learn of another batch of Model 3 configuration invites as part of the expansion.

 From article, (During the first week of January, Tesla made its biggest expansion of Model 3 invites yet. We received reports from Model 3 reservation holders in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Illinois who have received an invite from Tesla to configure and order their Model 3.

Two weeks later, we are now receiving new reports of Model 3 reservation holders being able to configure their cars in Arizona, North Carolina, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ohio. Between those new invitations to configure and the previous batch from a few weeks ago, it looks like Model 3 is going almost nationwide.

While it appears that the Model 3 is now available almost everywhere in the US, it also seems that the invites are still prioritized for current Tesla owners who reserved on the first day or so.

As we reported last week, Tesla started adding Model 3 display cars to a few stores in California and announced that it will soon expand the fleet to new markets in order to give reservation holders an opportunity to see the car in person before ordering.

They are now also bringing the car to Florida this Friday and other stores are expected to receive display cars soon.)