Regulatory Reform
Under Space Policy Directive 2, “Streamlining Regulations on Commercial Use of Space,” the Department of Commerce is engaged in a range of regulatory reform activities intended to improve U.S. industry competitiveness and ensure the United States remains the flag of choice for businesses operating in space.
Today, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross participated in the second meeting of the National Space Council, held at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Among other things, the Council approved a set of recommendations to the President for regulatory reforms…
Today, the Office of Space Commerce and the FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation published the second edition of their Introduction to U.S. Export Controls for the Commercial Space Industry. The guidebook provides basic information to help commercial space organizations,…
On October 5, 2017, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross attended the first meeting of the reconstituted National Space Council. As Chairman of the Council, Vice President Mike Pence called for a full review of the U.S. regulatory framework for commercial…
On January 10, 2017, the State Department updated its satellite export control rules under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). The revised rules include several notable changes requested by the commercial space industry and advocated by the Commerce Department,…
Today, the State Department published its final rule revising Category XII of the U.S. Munitions List (USML) under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Among other things, the rule updates the export controls on military GPS/GNSS receivers and moves them out of USML Category…
On February 19, the State Department published a proposed export control rule change affecting GPS/GNSS user equipment. Among other things, the rule will move the existing GPS/GNSS receiver controls found in Category XV of the U.S. Munitions List (Spacecraft Systems…
Today, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published a “clean-up” rule for its new spacecraft export regulations, similar to the correction published by State on Monday. The Commerce correction rule is (retroactively) effective November 10, 2014. Commerce’s correction rule…
Starting today, U.S. commercial communications satellites are no longer considered defense articles subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). November 10 is the effective date for most of the sweeping satellite export rule changes published six months ago.…
On May 13, 2014, the Departments of State and Commerce released a set of interim final rules that move many commercial satellites and related items from the U.S. Munitions List to the Commerce Control List. This long awaited rule change…
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has completed its analysis of the data collected through its “Deep Dive” survey of the U.S. space industrial base. BIS has begun publishing publicly available reports that detail findings and recommendations…