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\"We went through a careful assessment of what engine to use and what was available on the marketplace and you have to admit there’s not many U.S. engines available in that class to put into rockets like this,\" Frank Culbertson, executive vice president and general manager of Orbital's Advanced Programs Group, told ABC News.

Orbital obtained the engines from Aerojet, which purchased them from a Russian supplier \"many years ago,\" Culbertson said. They were refurbished, modified and tested.

\"So, we’re not sure why this one went bad and if it was the engine we don’t even know that yet, so we’ll have to continue the investigation,\" Culbertson said.

Musk and SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment from ABC News.

ABC News' James E. Hill and David Kerley contributed to this report.

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