Satelites Desde Estados Unidos

Communications Satellites Made Legal for Export
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: January 3, 2013
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To the delight of American satellite makers, communications satellites — which orbit Earth to relay phone calls, link ships to shore and broadcast television programs — will becomelegal for civilian export under legislation that President Obama signed into law on Thursday.
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Boeing
One of four Intelsat satellites built by Boeing to distribute video, network and voice services.
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Although the United States founded the industry, manufacturers were forced to pull back frominternational markets after a 1999 law categorized the satellites as weapons and restricted their export. At the time, Congress was fearful that selling satellites abroad could allow technology secrets to fall into the wrong hands.
The defense bill that President Obama signed will undo that step and let American companies sell communications satellites as civilian technology rather than as deadlyarms. Among the beneficiaries will be companies like Boeing, Hughes and Space Systems/Loral.
“This is a tremendous assist for an industry that is inherently international,” said Patricia A. Cooper, president of the Satellite Industry Association, a business group in Washington. “It will ensure our place at the forefront of space.”
As a practical matter, communications satellites made theirdebut in 1964 and quickly became stars of the space age. The first craft, orbiting at 22,300 miles, relayed signals to the United States from Japan that let American television viewers watch live coverage of the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
But the industry stumbled 13 years ago after Republicans in Congress pressed for a law that restricted communications satellite exports. The lawmakers praised itas a security precaution that would prevent China and other perceived foes from stealing technology secrets. Detractors saw it as a cynical ploy meant to discredit the Clinton administration and its policy of Chinese engagement.
That law put communications satellites on Washington’s list of export-controlled munitions: tools of war like tanks, bombs, missiles and equipment for making nucleararms. Foreign companies took the opportunity to increase their satellite sales.
The new law gives Mr. Obama the authority to return communications satellites to their previous status as civilian technology. It retains provisions that restrict the export of satellites to nations like China and North Korea, and to sponsors of state terrorism like Iran.
Senator Michael Bennet, Democrat of Colorado, whointroduced a bill to change the policy on satellite exports and whose state is a space industry hub, said the measure offered satellite manufacturers a crucial lift.
“Companies across the country have been operating at a disadvantage due to these policies,” he said in a statement. “These reforms will give our businesses a chance to compete globally while still protecting our national securityinterests.”
The strict export controls arose from a political fight over satellite launchings by China, which in the 1980s began offering cheap rides into orbit on low-cost rockets. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, both Republicans, approved transfers of American spacecraft to Chinese rockets, as did President Bill Clinton, a Democrat.
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