New Space Export Control Rules Offer Regulatory Relief
One Final Rule Issued, Three Open for Public Comments
On October 17, the Departments of Commerce (DOC) and State released a series of space export control rulemakings intended to enable a globally competitive U.S. industrial base while protecting national security and foreign policy interests.
“As the diversity of commercial activity in space grows, these rules will reduce the burden for U.S. industry to continue innovating and leading in the space sector."
Don Graves, DoC
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) released three rules—one Final Rule, one Interim Final Rule, and one Proposed Rule—to modernize BIS’s space-related export controls. This action is the result of an extensive review directed by the National Space Council to enable a globally competitive U.S. space industrial base, while strengthening U.S. international space partnerships. These updates reflect the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to maintaining U.S. leadership in space, protecting our national security, and strengthening our foreign alliances.
“The United States has always been a global leader in fostering a competitive and responsible space sector,” said Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves. “As the diversity of commercial activity in space grows, these rules will reduce the burden for U.S. industry to continue innovating and leading in the space sector. This update also significantly advances our ability to broaden and deepen international partnerships, to grow our economy, and to collaborate on mutual space priorities.”
“With (this) updates to our export controls, the United States is taking a bold step forward in fostering a strong space industrial base,” said Deputy Assistant to the President and Executive Secretary of the National Space Council Chirag Parikh. “These changes will strengthen international alliances and reflect America’s commitment to innovation and leadership in space.”
The series of regulatory changes modernizing space-related export controls consists of the following rules:
In a Final Rule, BIS is removing license requirements for exports of certain items involving remote sensing or space-based logistics, assembly, or servicing spacecraft destined for Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. This rule deepens the United States’ commitment to some of its closest allies, furthering our collective security, reducing unnecessary export control restrictions, and ensuring secure trade.
In an Interim Final Rule, BIS is removing license requirements for exports of certain spacecraft components to over 40 allies and partners worldwide, reducing licensing requirements for the least sensitive components for most destinations, and broadening license exceptions to support additional National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) cooperative programs. These changes advance international cooperation and bolster America’s global leadership in space technology.
Additionally, in a Proposed Rule published in concert with the Department of State, BIS outlines initial proposals to transfer jurisdiction of certain space-related defense articles that no longer provide a critical military or intelligence advantage from the U.S. Munitions List (USML) maintained by the Department of State to the Commerce Control List. Examples include spacecraft capable of refueling other spacecraft and spacecraft capable of autonomous collision avoidance. This proposed transfer would enable the use of BIS license exceptions that facilitate exports of commercial space items to close allies and partners. BIS welcomes public comment from all interested parties on this Proposed Rule within 30 days of publication.
These actions mark a pivotal step in updating and modernizing the U.S. Government’s space-related export controls and enhancing international partnerships while continuing to deny critical technologies to our adversaries.
“Our comprehensive review of space-related export controls was informed by both the extensive commercialization of the space industry and the need to collaborate with foreign partners to ensure continued U.S. and allied technological leadership, a key component of national security,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration Thea D. Rozman Kendler.
These rules follow and are informed by responses to a 2019 Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM), recommendations from BIS’s Transportation and Related Equipment Technical Advisory Committee (TRANSTAC), engagements with the private sector, and a recent survey and assessment of the U.S. civil space industrial base (CSIB) conducted by BIS in collaboration with NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Through the survey, BIS was able to gather data on respondents’ views on current export control regulations as well as suggestions for revisions to inform the modernization of BIS’s space-related export controls.
At the same time, the State Department posted a proposed rule on the Federal Register for public inspection, and scheduled that rule for publication in the Federal Register on October 23, 2024. The proposed changes in this rule would revise existing USML definitions, along with USML Categories IV and XV, and certain entries under USML Categories VI, VII, VIII, XI, XIII, and XX. Further, the proposed addition to § 126.8 would create three new licensing exemptions intended to promote U.S. industrial base participation in civil space activity commensurate with national security and foreign policy goals.
This proposed rule builds on public comments from an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published in the Federal Register on March 8, 2019 (84 FR 8486). This proposed rule also incorporates the results of a review of space-related export controls conducted by the Department of State at the direction of the National Space Council on December 20, 2023, to “review relevant export controls and processes to better enable a globally competitive U.S. space industrial base while protecting our national security and foreign policy interests.”