Secretary of Defense Robert Gates continued to press his case for reform of the U.S. export control system in a Tuesday speech to Business Executives for National Security.

Stressing that it is “critically important” that the United States prevent technologies from getting into the hands of adversaries who would use them against us, Secretary Gates nonetheless said that the current system does not deal effectivly with today’s threats. As an example, he pointedly remarked that “It makes little sense to use the same lengthy process to control the export of every latch, wire and lug nut — for a piece of equipment like the F-15 — when we’ve already approved the export of the entire aircraft.”

After detailing what he sees as the many failings of the current system, Secretary Gates listed four key reforms the Obama Administration is seeking: a single export control list, a single licensing agency, a single enforcement coordination agency, and a single information technology system.

A single list would allow the government to focus on protecting the “crown jewels” that maintain the U.S. technological advantage, but he acknowledged that such fundamental reform inevitably would be criticized.

“Some people will be concerned that having fewer items subject to the most onerous export restrictions will make it easier for hostile states or groups to obtain weaponry and technology that potentially could be used against us.

“No system — above all, the current one — is foolproof, but by consolidating more … we can focus our energies and our scrutiny on technologies that truly threathen America’s security….”

The Secretary added that he hoped that reform of the U.S. export control system would reestablish a partnership with U.S. allies along the lines of COCOM (Coordinating Committee on Multilateral Export Controls) to prevent transfer of nuclear weapons technology, for example. “Right now, it requires a U.N. Security Council resolution or significant governmental actions by a single government to prevent those transfers…. We hope…we can begin the kind of working-level relationships that we had in the COCOM days…”

He outlined a three-phase process to implement these changes that would take place over the next year. He also noted, however, that congressional action is required.

The congressional calendar in this election year is rather full already, so it is not clear if export control reform will rise to the level of criticality necessary to garner sufficient congressional attention.

NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) announced yesterday that it is adding a new task to its contract with Wyle Integrated Science & Engineering Group. The action procures technical expertise for JSC’s Space Life Sciences Directorate “to provide updates to an initial set of Commercial Human Systems Integration Requirements, to deliver a Commercial Medical Operations Requirements Document for use in commercial crew transportation services, and to deliver a set of design processes to provide guidance for commercial spacecraft designers.” The work apparently will be funded with Recovery Act (i.e., stimulus bill) money.

Yvonne Brill, inventor of the hydrazine-hydrazine resistojet propulsion system for geostationary communications satellites, was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame today. She is one of 15 inventors honored this year. Ms. Brill started her career with Douglas Aircraft in the 1940’s and eventually went to work for RCA at a time when the company built satellites. It was there that she invented the engine.

Another inductee today was Roger Easton, who developed the Timation navigation system that is at the heart of the Global Positioning System (GPS).

Space was not the dominant theme today, however. Among the other inductees were Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Emile Gagnan (both posthumously) for their invention of the modern demand regulator that enabled SCUBA (self contained underwater breathing apparatus) diving; Ralph Baer, the inventor of videogames; Arthur Fry and Spencer Silver, who created Post It notes – the office product one cannot live without; and S. Donald Stookey, a glass genius who — accidentally — invented the glass that makes CorningWare possible.

A full list of the inductees and their truly impressive inventions is available on the National Inventors Hall of Fame website. This Hall of Fame was created by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) and a group of intellectual property attorneys to recognize and celebrate “individuals responsible for the great technological advances that make human, social and economic progress possible.” Its first inductee in 1973 was Thomas Edison for his invention of the electric lamp.

The PTO is part of the Department of Commerce, and Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke appeared by videotape, apologizing that he could not be there in person for this event, which had to be rescheduled from its original date because of the huge snowstorms in Washington. Several Members of Congress also participated by videotape to acknowledge the inventors from their districts. Neal Conan, host of NPR’s Talk of the Nation, was master of ceremonies.

SpaceX announced today that it successfully conducted a test firing of all nine engines of its Falcon 9 launch vehicle at Cape Canaveral, FL. The test had been delayed several times, which is quite common in launch vehicle development programs, but attracted significant attention for a variety of reasons. One is the debate over whether commercial companies like SpaceX can take over responsibility for launching people to low Earth orbit instead of NASA. Another is that the tests are leading up to the inaugural launch of the Falcon 9, which could take place at about the same time that President Obama is in Florida to talk about his vision for the space program.

In an emailed press statement that is not yet on SpaceX’s website, the company said:

“Today, SpaceX successfully completed a test firing of the inaugural Falcon 9 launch vehicle at Space Launch Complex 40 located at Cape Canaveral. Following a nominal terminal countdown, the launch sequencer commanded ignition of all 9 Merlin first stage engines for a period of 3.5 seconds.

“Just prior to engine ignition, the pad water deluge system was activated providing acoustic suppression to keep vibration levels within acceptable limits. The test validated the launch pad propellant and pneumatic systems as well as the ground and flight control software that controls pad and launch vehicle configurations. The completion of a successful static fire is the latest milestone on the path to first flight of the Falcon 9 which will carry a Dragon spacecraft qualification unit to orbit.”

Commercial human space flight is the topic of the day, but what about commercial human flight to the edge of space — a jump from a very high altitude balloon.

At some point this year, aeronaut Felix Baumgartner, the first person to cross the English Channel on a carbon wing, will attempt to free fall out of a stratospheric balloon at a height of 36 km, potentially becoming the first human to break the speed of sound.

As part of the Red Bull Stratos initiative, Baumgartner will challenge three additional records:

• freefall altitude (the equivalent of four times the cruising altitude of commercial airplanes)
• human piloted balloon flight altitude (current record is 113,740 feet)
• longest freefall duration (expected to last approximately 5 minutes and 35 seconds)

According to the initiative’s website, this “mission to the edge of space will attempt to transcend human limits that have existed for 50 years.” But the goal goes beyond just making it into the record books. If Baumgartner is successful (there is the possibility he may not survive), important medical and scientific information is expected to come out of this experiment, with benefits to the future of human activities in space.

One probable offshoot cited by the event’s sponsors is the development of “next generation of aerospace crew protective equipment,” which may prove useful for the development of human-rated space vehicles for travel to low Earth orbit. The development of the balloon, pressure suit, ascent capsule, and retrieval system required for the mission may also yield insights into future aerospace technologies.

The exact date or location of the jump has not been announced.

The next space shuttle mission will carry the first NanoRack to the International Space Station (ISS) for conducting small experiments relatively inexpensively. Developed by a self-financed partnership of the Kentucky space consortium, University of Kentucky, Morehead State University, and Belcan Corp., NanoRack builds on the Cubesat design and interfaces with the ISS power and data grid through a USB plug.

Jeff Manber, one of the earliest advocates of commercial space activities who may be best known in space circles for his work with MirCorp in the 1990s to find commercial opportunities for Russia’s Mir space station (which was deorbited in 2001), is one of the founders of NanoRacks. Manber now writes for Aviation Week & Space Technology’s blog and the magazine published a story about the upcoming flight. It explained that NanoRacks will fly on each of the remaining four shuttle missions, and is small enough to be taken to the ISS on Progress, ATV or HTV as well. Each NanoRack can accommodate up to 16 experiments with 5 volts of power and data delivery to Earth. According to the article, commercial customers will pay $50,000; educational customers (such as universities), $25,000.

Dennis Hightower, Deputy Secretary of Commerce, said on the last day of the International Commercial Remote Sensing Symposium (ICRSS) that the remote sensing industry “is on the cusp” of making a breakthrough. Sales are expected to grow by 15% every year, he added, taking note of the “vast economic potential” of this “high-tech, high-growth industry.”

Mr. Hightower underlined the Obama Administration’s commitment to promote growth in this industry, balancing industry needs and national security concerns through “smart, calibrated regulations that keep us safe and enable competition.” He outlined the Obama Administration’s efforts to tackle what he called the “innovation deficit,” including measures at the Department of Commerce to create a new “innovation pipeline.” Mr. Hightower ended his remarks by saying that success for the commercial remote sensing industry “will require open dialogue between industry and government.”

One issue is licensing restrictions. In the United States, the approach has been to limit the resolution of commercial satellite systems in order to prevent highly detailed data that could have national security consequences from being sold on the market. Industry proponents argue that the restrictions stifle innovation and hurt competitiveness and want them relaxed.

Acknowledging the need for some sort of rules, Norihiko Saeki, Deputy Director of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, suggested that to ensure a sustainable market while balancing industry growth and national security, regulations should be broadened to include elements like place, person, and the timing of acquiring and disseminating remote sensing data. “We could change the sphere of the discussion” by including such criteria, said Saeki.

Wolfgang Schneider, Deputy Head of the Space Technologies Division of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology suggested in turn that the information content (such as spectral resolution) or the circumstances of distribution could be used to develop regulations. “Nobody here [at the ICRSS], including industry, can have an interest in the misuse of data,” he added. He said that everybody – both in government and industry – could agree that the goal is “not really to limit technology, but [to] set up the responsible use of it.”

As part of a panel discussion devoted to the health of the global aerospace industrial base, Fred Doyle, Vice President of Ball Aerospace, told the International Commercial Remote Sensing Symposium (ICRSS) Thursday that companies have to “balance labor demands” in order to avoid workforce gaps and that current demand for commercial remote sensing satellites is “not sufficient to maintain [a] stable workforce.”

Doyle showed a graph illustrating the labor demand during the multi-year process of design, integration, and testing required to build one of their commercial remote sensing satellites, such as Worldview 1 or Worldview 2. Noticeable in the chart was a marked reduction in demand during project transition, one that Doyle said could be as long as four years for designers. Ball Aerospace has managed to retain workers by assigning them to other programs, but Doyle said the company recognizes that workforce sustainability is an issue.

Explaining that a “stable industrial base requires a mix of commercial and government orders,” he nevertheless cautioned that long-troubled government programs like the Space Based Infrared Satellite System (SBIRS) and the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) become major obstacles because they “suck up” the government’s discretionary funds that might otherwise go to new programs. When money is diverted towards these big, long-term projects, there is little likelihood that the government will fund new, smaller, startup programs, he said.

Doyle expressed hope in a brighter future. Emerging market changes include the Obama Administration’s FY2011 budget proposal that envisions more earth observation satellites, promised revision of International Trade in Arms Regulation (ITAR) restrictions, and a recognition of commercial imagery as an element of the U.S. government’s national imagery architecture. “Government decisions will continue to drive the commercial viability of the industry,” he concluded, since commercial demand “does not support a stand-alone industrial base.”

Speaking more broadly about the worldwide earth observation satellite market, Dr. Reinold Lutz, Managing Director of Astrium, a subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS), said that there is stable, growing activity in Europe. Astrium estimates worldwide demand for commercial and dual-use Earth observation satellites will double in the next decade, from 50 to more than 100. He added that Astrium’s workforce actually grew 9% in 2008 and 4% in 2009. However, much of this activity is focused on government programs such as the 12 billion German High Tech Initiative. Additionally, approximately 75% of Astrium’s business is for the European Space Agency.

Mary Glackin, Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) told the 2010 International Commercial Remote Sensing Symposium (ICRSS) on Wednesday that commercial remote sensing policy was an important aspect of the ongoing review of U.S. national space policy. Ms. Glackin spoke of the increasing demand for commercial data and referred to the guiding principles of remote sensing policy in the 2006 National Space Policy. She said that while it is too early to provide details of the new Obama space policy, in time the industry would see that they would provide support.

In addition to data obtained through international partnerships — including synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data from Canada — NOAA relies on data procured commercially from U.S. companies. “We need this commercial sector with us,” said Glackin.

NOAA is not only a consumer of data, but also the regulatory agency for the commercial remote sensing business. In response to questions about why NOAA is taking so long to respond to changes in the commercial sector that call for softening resolution restrictions on synthetic aperture radar satellites and allegations that NOAA is “dropp[ing] the ball here,” Ms. Glackin began by saying, “I could just say yes.” She added that the United States was “a nation at war,” a factor that contributed to the delay in revising the policy and that “the Secretary [of Commerce] understands what this means for competitiveness.” She alluded to policies that may be revised in the new version of national space policy that will ensure the U.S. commercial sector can keep moving forward.

The issue of balancing national security concerns – which drive government restrictions on the resolution of data commercial remote sensing providers are allowed to provide – while supporting innovation and growth in commercial remote sensing will be the topic of discussion in an ICRSS expert panel Thursday. ICRSS runs from March 3 to March 5 and is being held at the Reagan Building in Washington, DC. For more information, see the website for the event.

Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) relented late on Tuesday and allowed the Senate to proceed to vote on legislation that would extend until the end of this month a number of expiring laws that affected everything from unemployment benefits to satellite television signals. The Senate voted 78-19 to pass the bill (H.R. 4691). The House already has passed it and the President is expected to sign it quickly. The Senate still must deal with longer term extensions of each of those laws or a similar situation could arise as March 31 approaches.