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What Are the "Rules of the Road?"
By Frank Sietzen
Special to space.com
posted: 11:40 am ET
26 January 2000
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What are The Rules of the Road "The Rules of the Road" are a series of three international agreements with the United States that control commercial rocket launches sold internationally by Russia, Ukraine and China. The Russian agreement was signed in 1993 and expires this December. The Ukrainian agreement was signed in 1996 and expires this December. The Chinese agreement was signed in 1995 and expires in December 2001. They cover: Numbers of U.S. satellites that can be launched by each nations rockets. The price structure for the sales of rockets and rocket launching services to international clients. The destination of payloads carried by rockets on low orbit, geostationary orbit or suborbital research missions. The Russian agreement was modified in January 1996 to add four more launches to geostationary orbit. This was in addition to the 15 launches allowed in the original agreement. The China agreement was modified in October 1997 to allow 11 launches to geostationary orbit. It also allowed Chinese rockets to launch small low-orbit satellites. It also allowed China to build and fly special satellite fairings, and to charge special multiple-launch discounts to buyers. The Ukrainian agreement allows for commercial launches only of its Zenit and Tsyklon space boosters -- both originally designed for the military space forces of the former Soviet Union. It allows Ukraine to launch five rockets to geostationary orbit, and 11 more under a joint U.S.-Ukrainian venture (Sea Launch). All agreements call for obtaining a U.S. commercial-launch license if the launch is with a U.S. partner.
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