WASHINGTON -- Satellite export restrictions imposed last year by Congress are literally choking the once booming U.S. commercial space business. That's what experts at a Washington, D.C. symposium on space law said Wednesday.
"The process for licensing satellites is irrevocably broken," said Scott Blake Harris, an attorney specializing in commercial space law. "The process isn't efficient, and it's snarled in a combination of regulatory requirements and lack of staffing, " Harris explained to SPACE.com. 'It's not because the staff aren't working," he added.
State vs. commerce in helping space business
The problems with satellite and space technology exports grew out of a Congressional action last year. The authority for licensing space vehicles such as commercial communication satellites was transferred to the U.S. State Department from the Commerce Department. Concerned that the commerce department granted export licenses too easily, politicians hoped that the state would give greater weight to national security issues and not industry profits.
Since the government got the licensing authority, U.S. satellite sales have plummeted 41 percent, according to figures released last month by the Aerospace Industries Association, a Washington, D.C. trade group. What's even more worrisome to industry is a growing trend for foreign space manufacturers to look outside the U.S. for secondary space-system suppliers for their spacecraft.
Too much red tape?
The State Department's backlogged licensing procedures and the difficulty in getting a license just to swap technical data are being pegged as the cause in the dropping business. Experts say the problem may just get worse before it gets better.
One of State's new licensing officers isn't exactly on internet time. "My office doesn't even have e-mail yet," said Rob DiSilva, Licensing Officer at the State Department. DiSilva described an office flooded with commercial space business awaiting U.S. approval. "We process 45,000 licenses per year," he said.
"The process for licensing satellites is irrevocably broken."
The State Department currently has 17 licensing officers, with eight more "on the way," DiSilva said. The staff also includes four military officers. And if that isn't enough to make for a bottleneck, the entire operation is moving from northern Virginia to offices in the District of Columbia, adding to the confusion. Attorneys that help industry navigate the process aren't amused at the delays.
"My problem is with the people that make policy -- the people in Congress," said Dennis James Burnett, an attorney whose firm specializes in space export law and policy. "Those actions taken in the name of national security are now harming our national security," Burnett said. After all, Burnett commented, the business of selling satellites isn't local or national in scope. "It's a global business," he said, and the procedures for exporting U.S. products should facilitate such commerce.
Take my satellite, please
The procedure for obtaining an export license for a satellite or space hardware is as complicated as the spacecraft itself. First, the State Department receives the application from the manufacturing company.
The application is duplicated and sent to the Department of Defense (DOD). There, an agency called the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) copies the application and sends it out to the staffers in the affected Defense-related agencies. The intelligence community also has to approve the request. The military services, such as the Army, Navy and Air Force next get their chance to weigh in. Other federal agencies such as NASA and even the Commerce Department must go along.
For DTRA, a 25-day clock starts when it circulates the license request. "We try to get our approvals in that time frame, but it is a goal not a requirement," said Jay Walding of DTRA's export office.
And, oh yes, if the deal in question is for a satellite package above $50 million, a Congressional review might also be needed. And what are the average values of a satellite export? "Well, it's a lot more than $50 million," said Burnett.
How to fix what's broken
Burnett suggested changes that could be made to rescue the export mess. "Get rid of that Congressional review," he urged. "Reduce the scope of these controls. And streamline the process of approval."
For their part, Defense officials were receptive to Burnett's suggestions. "The licensing reforms being considered are being encouraged by DOD," said Walding.
Scott Sacknoff, head of the International Space Business Council, suggested that legislation is about to be introduced in Congress to help repair some of the damage caused by the change in licensing authority. But the proposed legislative fixes might not be voted on until the next session of Congress, Sacknoff said. And that adds up to even more delays for selling satellites.
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