Tests of a Russian RD-180 liquid-fuel rocket engine have been carried out in the Science and Test Complex of Russia’s NPO Energomash, the company said Wednesday in a statement. This reported by Sputnik.

"According to the head of the complex Andrey Ushkov, the tests went routinely, the test program has been fully implemented," the statement reads.

The reliable and relatively cheap RD-180 engine is developed and manufactured by NPO Energomash and is designed for the US Atlas carrier rockets.

Despite currently, American aerospace company Blue Origin has tested the Blue Engine 4 (BE-4) next-generation rocket engine, planned to replace the RD-180 engine in future American space launches, at the moment the US side still has to use the Russian-produced engines.

After the US-Russia relations deteriorated over the Crimean issue in 2014, US lawmakers imposed limits on future RD-180 purchases, passing a law that required the US to phase out the Russian-made engines in favor of domestically produced next-generation rocket propulsion systems.

However, the next year, the US Congress passed a budget that included a provision allowing the country to continue buying the Russian RD-180 rocket engines. Shortly after, the ULA ordered an additional 20 RD-180 engines at the request of the Pentagon.

In January, US launch vehicle Atlas V with satellite GEO-4 was launched from Cape Canaveral. The first stage powered by RD-180 engine successfully separated.

The Atlas V, a two-stage rocket with the initial stage powered by an RD-180 engine, has completed 75 launches since its inaugural flight in 2002, according to the United Launch Alliance (ULA).