Satellite Filings Seek Tweaks to Commerce, State, Export Controls
Satellite groups sought changes to export controls related to a Trump administration effort to revive the National Space Council, in comments that were due Friday. The Aerospace Industries Association asked the Commerce Department for more time before space-related export control regulations, to allow for "open discussions with the government." AIA lacks an "industry consensus" on multiple changes being considered. The association said a member-company asked that Commerce “evaluate” the list and “expand the list of parts and components that do not pose a threat to National Security and Regional Stability.”
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Comments came in as panelists during a Thursday meeting on U.S. space-related export controls, said China’s progress toward its satellite ambitions shows the need for stricter export controls, stronger collaboration on those controls with U.S. allies, and more staffing and funding for U.S. enforcement agencies. Lorand Laskai, a researcher at the Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology, presented a dire outlook for the state of U.S.-China commercial space competition, saying China poses a major threat to U.S. export controls.
In its comments, Northrop Grumman suggested Commerce “make a clear distinction” between hardware designed for satellites and spacecraft and hardware designed for a launch vehicle or missile. “These items cause licensing challenges for spacecraft manufacturers in having to obtain multiple export authorizations (DDTC/BIS) for technical data/technology required for one spacecraft program,” Northrop Grumman said, asking Commerce to “minimize this multijurisdiction licensing burden.” Northrop Grumman noted space-related manufacturers haven't saved any money or seen a “cost benefit” from export control revisions. The company said many of the categories are growing “more complex,” causing business to use “more resources” to classify their products and technology.
SpaceX recommended Commerce and State remove certain export control license requirements for exports “related to ocean launch and landing activities” or those “outside the atmosphere.” The company said the agencies don’t “clearly identify where in the ocean the United States begins and ends, making it difficult to determine what constitutes an ‘export’” when a U.S. person is launching spacecraft from the ocean. SpaceX said it’s not clear whether product transfers that occur “outside Earth’s atmosphere” are “exports” or “reexports” and “whether licensing is required for such transfers or releases.” The company asked that license exemptions be added.
Boeing asked that “launch vehicle dispensers” and “satellite-to-satellite interstage adapters” be added to the list of export controls that Commerce should review. It said clarifying those two items in the controls would “better delineate militarily critical items versus commercial commodities and technologies.”
The Satellite Industry Association, like Boeing, recommended changes to electric propulsion and star tracker export control categories, suggesting both be moved from the U.S. Munitions List to the Commerce Control List. SIA suggested USML’s category IV include the phrase “specially designed” in its description “to account for standard launch integration technologies that are usable with a wide variety of payloads and launch vehicles.”
At last week's panel, Laskai, along with Maxar Technologies Vice President-Regulatory and Policy at Michael Gold and Akin Gump lawyer Kevin Wolf, warned about China’s growing space satellite ambitions. They said the country’s government has used its commercial sector to become a powerful competitor in the space industry, threatening U.S. manufacturers and necessitating a re-examination of U.S. export controls.
Wolf, who also served as Commerce’s assistant secretary for export administration from 2010 to 2017, said the U.S. should move away from unilateral export controls on parts and components for commercial satellites and instead coordinate with other countries. “Almost all of our other export controls we coordinate with our [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] allies and other close allies so that they have the same controls in place,” Wolf said. The same philosophy should be applied to satellite controls, he said.
Gold and Wolf said export control enforcement agencies need more staff and resources. Gold, who also sits on the export control committee for the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, said he was recently told by Commerce and State officials that it usually takes more than six months to hire, a large roadblock to expanding enforcement. “You can throw money at the issue, but if it takes years to hire, money isn't the only part of the solution,” Gold said. “There needs to be reforms relative to hiring.”