The Washington-based Satellite Industry Association (SIA) trade body made its case for reforming export control policies before the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs on 7 February.
SIA president Patricia Cooper called on the committee to reform 1998…
The Washington-based Satellite Industry Association (SIA) trade body made its case for reforming export control policies before the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs on 7 February.
SIA president Patricia Cooper called on the committee to reform 1998 legislation that currently requires satellite-related technology to be treated as munitions.
Under the US government’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), this prohibits the export of such technology to security threats such as China, but also to NATO allies.
“As a high-tech growth industry that provides critical support for our nation’s defence industry and drives innovation and investment, we urge Congress to reform US export controls for satellites and related items to secure the United States’ future as a leading space-faring nation,” she said.
The SIA’s call comes after a bipartisan group of US Congressmen introduced legislation late last year to relax the satellite export rules. This legislation is still making its way through Congress.
The proposed bill still seeks to ban the export of any satellite-related equipment to China and nations considered to engage in the state sponsorship of terrorism. However, it will also give the US President the flexibility to remove satellite equipment from the United States Munitions List when deemed appropriate.
“While the current one-size-fits-all satellite export control laws were originally intended to enhance national security, a decade of experience shows that this requirement to over-regulate has undermined the nation’s security and the satellite industry’s international competitiveness,” Cooper told the committee.
“SIA asks that Congress restore the Executive Branch’s authority to regulate satellites, as they do every other US technology – by making careful and expert differentiations between commonly-available items and the most sensitive technologies, the latter of which are then safeguarded with our strictest export controls.”
Among SIA’s membership are US aerospace giants Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Loral Space & Communications.
