Review from DOD, State Department Urges Removing Non-Critical Satellites from Restrictive Export List

The departments found that communications satellites that don’t contain classified components and “remote sensing satellites with performance parameters below certain thresholds” can be removed from the control of ITAR and not be designated as defense articles on the USML, the report said. They are “more appropriately designated as dual-use items on the Commerce Control List and controlled under the Export Administration Regulations,” it said. The report recommends that satellites performing a purely military or intelligence mission and remote sensing satellites with high performance parameters remain on the USML, as they “provide the U.S. with a critical military or intelligence advantage in space."

Many members of the space and satellite industry have been critical of ITAR. “We have seen indications about how some ITAR controls have hurt” U.S. industry, Schulte said. There has been a significant decrease in the U.S. share of global satellite manufacturing over the last decade, he added. The report said that over the past 15 years, many commercial satellite systems, subsystems components and related technologies “have become less critical to national security due to the transition from military to predominantly civilian uses,” like direct broadcast TV, satellite communications and Earth mapping.

The also reflects DOD’s concern about the Chinese space program, Schulte said. The U.S. should maintain strict controls “on transfers of non-critical space-related items to end-users and for end-uses that are likely to be used against the U.S. national interests,” the report said. China’s technology acquisition techniques targeting U.S. space-related technologies warrant special scrutiny, it said. The review would expand the scope of technology and items that the U.S. industry can export, “but we're maintaining controls on China” and other embargoed countries, Schulte said.

Schulte said legislation is needed to implement the recommendations. By providing the report, DOD wanted to convince Congress that “it’s ready to have statutory authority returned to the president,” he said.

The review received praise from some satellite companies and Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The report makes clear “that restricting exports of all commercial satellites and components as if they were lethal weapons ... has gravely harmed U.S. space manufacturers,” Berman said. He said the report is in line with his bill, HR-3288, introduced last year, which would authorize the president to remove commercial satellites from USML and prohibit satellite sales to China (CD Nov 3 p13). Passing the bill would fix the situation “and refocus our export controls on the true national security threats,” which include Iran, North Korea and Cuba, Berman said. The satellite and space industries are reviewing the report’s analysis and recommendations, “which collectively reflect a more contemporary picture of the national security, space and satellite environments,” said the Satellite Industry Association. It urged support of HR-3288 and the introduction of companion legislation in the Senate.

The report also was applauded by Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md.: Before satellite and satellite parts were placed on the USML, “the U.S. held 73 percent of the worldwide share of satellite exports.” That share has fallen a staggering 25 percent, said the House Intelligence ranking member and a supporter of satellite export reform. The report validates that “treating satellites like guns and ammo is crippling American space manufacturers,” he said. “While the report is excellent news for the satellite industry, and a predicate of sorts on the Hill for movement on HR-3288, Congress has a whole lot on its plate at the moment,” said John Ordway, a satellite-industry lawyer at Berliner Corcoran.