"Our international partners are not only American. There are many others who want to work with us, and they do. We have joint ventures with many European space industry giants and we continue working with them actively," Solntsev said on television channel Rossiya-24 in response to a question about the effects US sanctions had on Energia's international projects.
Solntsev added that Energia has been developing spacecraft with European partners and will continue to do so. According to him, US sanctions are being used by the country to gain market share in the space industry.
Russia's relationship with the West has deteriorated over the situation in Ukraine. The United States and its allies have introduced several rounds of sanctions against Moscow, targeting individuals, as well as Russia's defense, banking and energy sectors. Despite this, Russia and the United States continue to cooperate in a number of fields, including space industry.
Earlier on Friday, Energia announced the signing of a $1-billion contract with the US-based Orbital Sciences Corporation for the delivery of 60 RD-181 engines. The first two are to be delivered in June 2015. The space corporation also said it is currently negotiating a separate contract with US space launch provider United Launch Alliance (ULA) for the delivery of 30 additional RD-180 rocket engines used on the ULA Atlas V rockets.
