The State Department and Commerce Department issued interim final rules revising satellite export controls yesterday (May 13, 2014).   The long-awaited revisions to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) will allow easier export of commercial satellites to most countries.

The reforms are part of a broader Obama Administration-led Export Control Reform Initiative intended to make American companies more competitive in international markets.

Draft rules were released last year, allowing interested parties to comment on the planned changes.  The rules released yesterday reflect the input that was received and will remain “interim final rules” for the next six months to allow additional comments.  The State Department’s interim final rule and the Commerce Department’s companion revisions are published in the May 13, 2014 Federal Register.   The two departments share responsibility for export controls. The State Department oversees exports of ITAR-controlled items on the U.S. Munitions List (USML).  The Commerce Department regulates “dual-use” items under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).   Items on the USML are much more closely guarded than those on the EAR because of their greater potential military applications.

The Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) praised the export control reforms, but expressed concern that “almost all commercial human spacecraft” remain on the USML.  CSF President Michael Lopez-Alegria said that while yesterday’s actions should be applauded, “there is still much progress to be made on commercial spacecraft. … We thank the Administration for their work on this critical issue and look forward to continued revisions to ensure the U.S. remains a leader in spaceflight.”  CSF advocates for commercial human spaceflight.

The Satellite Industry Association (SIA), a trade association of commercial satellite operators, service providers, manufacturers, launch service providers, and ground equipment suppliers, hailed the reforms.  SIA President Patricia Cooper said that “With a more modern regulatory environment for exports in place, we look forward to unleashing the full force of American ingenuity and innovation at work in the international market.”

Similarly, the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) congratulated the government for the reforms.  AIA, which represents the U.S. aerospace industry, estimated in 2012 that U.S. manufacturers lost $21 billion in revenue between 1999 and 2009 because of the strict limits placed on exports of commercial satellites in 1999.

Congress imposed the limits in 1999 after a congressional investigation (the Cox Committee) determined that China had gained militarily-important information by launching U.S.-manufactured commercial communications satellites.  Such satellites had been moved from State Department to Commerce Department control under the George H.W. Bush and Clinton Administrations.  In 1999, Congress moved them back to the State Department’s Munitions List and removed the presidential authority to determine which department had control over them — only Congress could make that determination.   The satellite industry immediately began its attempts to return the satellites to Commerce Department control, which now have finally reached fruition after Congress changed the law in 2012.  Exports to China, however, remain prohibited.

Here is our list of upcoming space policy related events for the week of May 12-18, 2014 and any insight we can offer about them.  The House is in recess, but the Senate is in session.

During the Week

The House is in recess this week, though the Senate will be working.  As of the moment, nothing is on tap about space activities.  Though it’s only May, Congress is essentially winding down its legislative activities for the year to allow incumbents to campaign for reelection.  All House seats and one-third of the Senate are up for election or re-election this year.

Perhaps the most interesting space policy-related event this week will be the return of three International Space Station (ISS) crew members on Tuesday (Eastern Daylight Time).   NASA insists all is well in U.S.-Russian space relationships despite the earthly geopolitical tensions.  Presumably all will go nominally.

NASA’s Mars Exploration Program Analysis Committee (MEPAG) will meet just outside Washington on Tuesday and Wednesday, immediately followed by a workshop where scientists will debate what is the best landing site for the Mars 2020 lander.

NOAA’s Advisory Committee on Commercial Remote Sensing (ACCRES) is meeting this week.  This committee meets quite infrequently though there are substantive policy issues in play, such as whether to lower the limit to one-quarter rather than one-half meter resolution of imagery that can be sold commercially.

Also coming up this week is the International Space Development Conference 2014 (ISDC) in Los Angeles.  Subtitled ” A Space Renaissance,” this is the 33rd ISDC and has a fascinating array of sessions, as usual.

Here’s the list of what we know about as of Sunday evening.

Monday-Thursday, May 12-15

• World Space Risk Forum, Dubai

Tuesday, May 13

• WSBR Luncheon Featuring Sierra Nevada Corps’ Mark Sirangelo, University Club, Washington, DC.  11:30 am – 1:30 pm ET
• NASA History Office Lecture Featuring Andrew Jenks, NASA HQ, Washington DC, 12:00-1:00 pm ET
• Renaming Ceremony for Armstrong Flight Research Center (formerly Dryden Flight Research Center), 10:00 am PT (1:00 pm ET)
• Soyuz TMA-11M Undocking and Landing, Kazakhstan:  Undocking 6:33 pm ET; landing 9:57 pm ET (7:57 am May 14 local time at the landing site)

Tuesday-Wednesday, May 13-14

• MEPAG, Crystal City Marriott, Arlington, VA

Wednesday-Friday, May 14-16

• Mars 2020 Landing Site Workshop (following the MEPAG meeting), Crystal City Marriott, Arlington, VA

Wednesday-Sunday, May 14-18

• International Space Development Conference 2014 (ISDC 2014), Los Angeles, CA

Thursday, May 15

• NOAA Advisory Committee on Commercial Remote Sensing (ACCRES), Dept. of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Ave, NW, Washington, DC, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm ET

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims today lifted the preliminary injunction it imposed last week on the Air Force or United Launch Alliance (ULA) making payments to Russia for the RD-180 engines that power ULA’s Atlas V rocket.

Judge Susan Braden issued an order dissolving the injunction this afternoon.   Her April 30, 2014 order enjoining payments was in response to a lawsuit filed by SpaceX against the government because it awarded a contract to ULA for 36 Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) cores in December 2013 on a sole source basis rather than competing it.  The lawsuit is primarily about that issue, but as part of its filing SpaceX discussed the fact that ULA’s Atlas V uses Russian RD-180 engines and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin is in charge of Russia’s space sector and is on the list of sanctioned individuals because of Russia’s actions in Ukraine.  Rogozin was one of the first Russians sanctioned under Executive Order 13661 in March.

Braden thereupon enjoined payments to the Russian company NPO Energomash, which builds the engines, until the court received the opinions of the Departments of the Treasury, State and Commerce that payments would not violate the sanctions against Rogozin who ostensibly has some control over all Russian government space agencies and companies and therefore the payments .  The three departments provided their opinions to the court on Tuesday.  They collectively concluded that, to the best of their knowledge, payments to NPO Energomash would not violate the sanctions and requested the injunction be lifted.

Today, after a hearing and an updated letter from the government (Exhibit D of today’s order), Judge Braden dissolved the injunction.  The order also requires the government to inform the court “immediately” if it receives “any indication” that payments to NPO Energomash will, in fact, directly or indirectly contravene the sanctions.

ULA issued a press release stating that its purchases from NPO Energomash comply with the sanctions and continued the war of words it is having with SpaceX over this issue and the lawsuit in general.  No press release from SpaceX has been posted on its website as of now.  The companies have been exchanging barbs since the injunction was issued last week primarily through filings with the court.

The case is still in front of the court.  As noted, it is primarily focused on the issue of whether the December 2013 contract should have been awarded on a sole source basis or competed.

The United States Government filed a request with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims late yesterday asking the court to dissolve its injunction against the government or United Launch Alliance (ULA) from making payments to Russia because it might violate sanctions imposed by President Obama against Russian Deputy Prime Minister Rogozin.

The court enjoined the Air Force and ULA from making payments to the Russian entity NPO Energomash for RD-180 engines, used for ULA’s Atlas V rocket, on April 30.  Judge Susan Braden ruled that no such payments could be made until the court received the opinion of the Departments of the Treasury, State and Commerce that such payments did not violate the sanctions against Rogozin, who oversees Russia’s space sector.   Rogozin was among the first group of Russians sanctioned by President Obama in Executive Order 13661 in March because of Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

In yesterday’s filing, the government provided letters from each of the three government departments that “collectively, demonstrate that, as of the issuance of those letters, purchases from or payments to NPO Energomash would not directly or indirectly contravene” the sanctions.   The government therefore requested that the court dissolve the April 30 injunction and also asked for expedited consideration of the matter.   ULA joined in the motion.

The motion is related to a lawsuit SpaceX filed regarding the Air Force’s block buy of Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle cores from ULA.  SpaceX’s complaint is that the contract was awarded on a sole source rather than competed basis and it did not seek the judge’s injunction against payments to Russia.  The lawsuit did discuss the fact that ULA uses Russian engines and that Rogozin oversees the Russian space sector and that he is sanctioned by the U.S. government, leading the judge to issue the injunction.

Today, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) released the “chairman’s mark” for the FY2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that will be marked up on Wednesday.   Also, the House Appropriations Committee announced that it will markup the FY2015 bill that includes NASA and NOAA on Thursday.

The HASC Chairman’s mark is the text of the bill (H.R. 4435) that the committee will use as the basis for amendments at Wednesday’s markup that begins at 10:00 am ET.  Typically these HASC markups are lengthy affairs lasting hours and hours as amendments are offered, debated, adopted, rejected, or withdrawn.

The text of the chairman’s mark appears to contain all of the recommendations adopted by the Strategic Forces subcommittee last week, although the $220 million added by the subcommittee for developing a U.S. alternative to Russia’s RD-180 rocket engines is reduced by $23 million.   It also —

• reduces by $20 million the requested $40 million for a weather satellite system follow-on and reallocates that amount to launch of the final satellite in the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) series.  The Air Force launched the next to last DMSP last month, but was not necessarily planning to launch the final one (DMSP-20) and instead focus on developing a new system.  The bill would require that it be launched.
• adds $135 million to the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle procurement request to pay for launching DMSP-20, noting that the money is for “DMSP 20 launch/additional competition launch.”
• adds $30 million (none was requested) for Operationally Responsive Space (ORS).
• adds $10 million to the $9.5 million requested for Space Situation Awareness Systems.

Generally, the other space programs in the NDAA are funded at their requested levels.

Separately, the House Appropriations Committee will markup the FY2015 Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill on Thursday.  The CJS subcommittee marked up the bill last week, adding a significant amount of money for NASA.  Specifics on how much is in the bill for NOAA’s satellite programs were not released last week other than to say that the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-R series are fully funded.

UPDATE:  The House Appropriations Committee markup of the FY2015 CJS bill on Thursday has been added (it was announced today, May 5).

Here is our list of space policy-related events for the upcoming week and any insight we can offer about them.  The House and Senate are in session.

During the Week

Activities in Congress will certainly be interesting, but meetings organized by other groups may grab the headlines.

In Congress, the House Armed Services Committee will markup the FY2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Wednesday.  Its subcommittees did their own markups last week (the Strategic Forces subcommittee made some interesting space-related recommendations), but generally speaking the real action takes place at full committee markup, often a marathon session lasting hours and hours.  Entirely separately, on Friday, the Space Subcommittee of the House Science, Space and Technology (SS&T) Committee will hold a hearing on Space Traffic Management and how to avoid what happened in the fanciful (but entertaining) movie Gravity.  They’ve got a real life (former) astronaut as one of the witnesses — George Zamka, who is now a top official at the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation.

In other events, to pick just two:

• on Thursday from 2-4 pm ET, the Secure World Foundation will look at the Malaysian airplane (MH370) disappearance and the role satellites could play in increasing aviation safety in the future, and
• earlier that day (12:30-1:30 pm ET), the American Security Project will discuss threats to U.S. space systems and how “quick launch capabilities” can help mitigate them.

But those are just samples.  A list of what we know about as of Sunday evening (with an update on Monday afternoon) is provided below.

Monday-Friday, May 5-9, 2014

• AIAA and Jet Propulsion Laboratory 13th International Conference on Space Operations, Pasadena Convention Center, Pasadena, CA

Tuesday, May 6

• MSBR Luncheon Featuring NOAA’s Mary Kicza, Martin’s Crosswinds, Greenbelt, MD, 11:30 am – 1:30 pm

Wednesday, May 7

• HASC Full Committee Markup FY2015 National Defense Authorization Act, 2118 Rayburn House Office Building, 10:00 am ET
• STA Luncheon Featuring NASA Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana, 385 Russell Senate Office Building, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm ET

Wednesday-Thursday, May 7-8

• FAA COMSTAC, NTSB Conference Center, 429 L’Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington, DC

Thursday, May 8

• House Appropriations Committee Markup FY2015 CJS Bill (includes NASA and NOAA), 2359 Rayburn, 10:00 am ET
• Asymmetric Threats and Space: China, Russia, Non-State Actors and the Need for Quick Launch, 1100 New York Ave., NW, Washington, DC, 12:30-1:30 pm ET
• Beyond MH370: Role of Satellites in Aviation Safety, 1779 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC, 2:00-4:00 pm ET

Friday, May 9

• House SS&T Subcmte Hearing on Space Traffic Management: How To Prevent a Real Life “Gravity,” 2318 Rayburn, 10:00 am ET 

A U.S. Federal Claims Court judge issued an injunction last night that prohibits the Air Force or United Launch Alliance (ULA) from purchasing RD-180 engines from Russia until the Department of Treasury, Department of Commerce and Department of State determine that it does not violate U.S. sanctions.  The ruling was made in response to a lawsuit filed eariier this week by SpaceX over the Air Force’s block buy of rockets from ULA although this was not one of the remedies SpaceX sought.

The three page injunction issued by Judge Susan Braden on April 30 cites Executive Order 13661, which places Russian Deputy Prime MInister Dmitry Rogozin on the list of individuals sanctioned because of Russia’s actions in Ukraine, and April 28 restrictions on exports announced by the Departments of State and Commerce.  Rogozin is in charge of Russia’s space sector.

Consequently, Judge Braden ruled that the public interest and national defense and security concerns that underlie E.O. 13661 “warrant issuance of a preliminary injunction” that prohibits the Air Force and ULA from making “any purchase from or payment of money to NPO Energomash or any entity … that is subject to control of Deputy Prime Minister Rogozin” until the court receives an opinion from the Departments of Treasury, State and Commerce that they do not “directly or indirectly contravene” the Executive Order.  She added that the injunction does not apply to purchase orders already placed or money already paid to NPO Energomash.

SpaceX agreed with the action:   “The U.S. Court of Federal Claims took a prudent step toward understanding whether United Launch Alliance’s current sole-source contract violates U.S. sanctions by sending taxpayer money to Russia for the RD-180 engine. That question – as well as others relating to the risks posed by dependence on Russian-made engines and the need to open competition for the Air Force space launch program – are timely and appropriate.”

SpaceX filed suit in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on Monday seeking an injunction against the Air Force proceeding with its block buy of 36 launch vehicle cores from the ULA because the contract was awarded on a sole source basis rather than competed.

United Launch Alliance (ULA) issued a strongly worded statement today about SpaceX’s lawsuit and a judge’s ruling yesterday enjoining the government or ULA from buying RD-180 engines from Russia until the court is notified by three government departments that such purchases would not violate U.S. sanctions against Russia.

U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Susan Braden issued the injunction in response to a lawsuit filed Monday by SpaceX protesting a December 2013 contract award from the Air Force to ULA for 36 Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) cores.   ULA, jointly owned by Lockheed Martin and Boeing, uses two EELV rockets — Atlas V and Delta IV — to launch just about all of the nation’s national security satellites as well as spacecraft for NASA.  The Atlas V is powered by Russian RD-180 engines. 

The injunction prohibits the Air Force or ULA  from making payments to Russia’s NPO Energomash, which builds the engines, until the Departments of the Treasury, Commerce and State inform the court that the payments do not violate sanctions imposed by the United States against Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees Russia’s space sector.

SpaceX is challenging the award of the EELV contract on a sole source basis instead of allowing competition.  The lawsuit does not seek an injunction against the purchase of RD-180 engines, but discussed them in the lawsuit and issued a statement today praising the judge’s decision.

In response, ULA said it would work with the Department of Justice to resolve the injunction “expeditiously.”  It called SpaceX’s actions “opportunistic” and an attempt to “circumvent the requirements imposed” on others.  It also noted that NASA and “numerous other companies” do business with NPO Energomash, other Russian companies and the Russian government.  The full text of the ULA statement is:

“ULA is deeply concerned with this ruling and we will work closely with the Department of Justice to resolve the injunction expeditiously. In the meantime, ULA will continue to demonstrate our commitment to our National Security on the launch pad by assuring the safe delivery of the missions we are honored to support.

“SpaceX’s attempt to disrupt a national security launch contract so long after the award ignores the potential implications to our National Security and our nation’s ability to put Americans on board the International Space Station. Just like ULA, NASA and numerous other companies lawfully conduct business with the same Russian company, other Russia state-owned industries, and Russian Federation agencies.  This opportunistic action by SpaceX appears to be an attempt to circumvent  the requirements imposed on those who seek to meet the challenging launch needs of the nation and to avoid having to follow the rules, regulations and standards expected of a company entrusted to support our nation’s most sensitive missions.”