I had only two wishes for Christmas. Can you guess what they were?

A trip to Hawaii? Well, yes. But, that really wasn’t—

Winning a $100 million lottery jackpot? That would have been great, to0. But…any other guesses?

The Eagles winning the Super Bowl? No, I gave up on that waaay before Christmas. I mean, what the hell happened?!

OK. Since you’re way off, I’ll just tell you: My two wishes for Christmas were to see SpaceShipTwo in powered flight and the Lynx making its first runway hop from the Mojave Air and Space Port by the end of the 2012.

Neither of these wishes came true. Which means 2013 –best known thus far as the year not wiped out by the Mayan apocalypse — just got a whole lot better.

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The decision to relax controls on the export of U.S. satellites isn’t going over well in China, which remains on a list of nations to which these spacecraft cannot be exported, re-exported or transferred. Those restrictions ban China’s launch industry from placing U.S.-built satellites into orbit. In remarks posted on the Ministry of Commerce website, Spokesman Shen Danyang “pointed out that the US once expressed that its reform of export […]

ARLINGTON, VA (AIA PR) — AIA congratulates conferees on the fiscal year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (H. R. 4310) for completing their work and producing a final conference agreement that supports our warfighters and helps sustain our defense industrial base in a time of uncertainty.  We urge the House and Senate to pass the agreement and President Obama to sign it into law.

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By Douglas Messier
Parabolic Arc Managing Editor

Satellite export reform is included in the final version of the $633 million defense bill agreed to in conference by House and Senate leaders on Tuesday. Speaking the same day in Mojave, Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) Chairman Stu Witt said  the federation would help lead the effort for additional measures next year.

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The Commercial Spaceflight Federation, Aerospace Industries Association and the Satellite Industry Association are all praising the passage this week of a House bill that will loosen the nation’s restrictive laws on satellite exports.

Washington D.C. (CSF PR) – The Commercial Spaceflight Federation lauds the passage of H.R. 4310 today, the National Defense Authorization Act, with Rep. Adam Smith’s amendment providing authority to the President to remove some satellites and related components and technology from the U.S. Munitions List, but calls for further progress regarding spaceflight participant training and the appropriate regulatory position for manned space vehicles.

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WASHINGTON (NSS PR) — The National Space Society (NSS) calls on Congress to ease export control regulations on spacecraft and related items, as urged by the Departments of Defense and State in their recent, joint “Section 1248” report, “Risk Assessment of the United States Space Export Control Policy”, available here.

This report concluded that spacecraft and their components, designated as dual-use items, can safely be removed from the U.S. Munitions List (USML), which is controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) by the Department of State.

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ARLINGTON, VA — AIA PR — The U.S. space industry is losing its competitive edge and risks falling short of future national security requirements unless government reforms our export control system and promotes the international competitiveness of U.S. industry, according to a new report released by AIA.

“A strong and globally competitive space industrial and supplier base is a major national security asset,” said AIA President and CEO Marion C. Blakey. “Reforming America’s export control system and promoting space exports will better serve our national security and bolster our economy and technological leadership.”

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AIA PR — November 07, 2011 — Draft revisions to Category VIII (military aircraft and associated parts and components) of the U.S. Munitions List released by the Obama administration today constitute a major milestone in the ongoing effort to control more appropriately exports to our allies of sensitive technology.

“AIA has advocated for years for export control reforms that could better serve U.S. national security, foreign policy and economic interests,” said AIA President and CEO Marion C. Blakey. “Throughout this reform process, the Obama administration has been focused on national security above all else and it has yielded good results.”

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Here are some additional details on the FAA COMSTAC Working Groups meetings being held later this week. The event is free and open to the public. EVENT:  Export Control Reform Panel Discussion- Brian Nilsson, National Security Council Professional Staff Member, will provide a briefing on the Administration’s current export control reform plans and strategy.  Also participating in the panel will be Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) an important voice on Capitol […]