Peter Selding of SPACE.com reported China has successfully launched a Thales satellite that did not contain any US components controlled by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (“ITAR”). Any non-US origin satellite with one or more ITAR-controlled part (regardless of value) would require approval by the US State Department for transfer to China — and the State Department would not approve transfers of any commercial communication satellite with ITAR content to China. The Thales ITAR-free satellite proves that it is possible for companies to build satellites and sell them without having to deal with the cumbersome and sometimes prohibitive ITAR controls.
According to the report, the Chinasat 6B telecommunications satellite is the fourth satellite built for the Chinese satellite-fleet operators by Thales Alenia Space. And it looks like it doesn’t cost all that much to avoid ITAR components. According to the report, avoiding ITAR restrictions added approximately six percent to the cost of the satellite due to lack of options in choosing more competitive parts suppliers and the currency used in payment. Thales Alenia Space has pointed out going to a fully ITAR-free product line is out of the question because of the risk of not being able to keep up with the market demand as ITAR-free satellites rely on a supply chain that would have difficulty increasing deliveries in the short term. This sale might be a scary prospect for US satellite makers and US satellite component suppliers. The State Department will not approve license for transfers of US satellites or foreign-origin satellites with US content to China. Now Thales seems to have a monopoly on sales of satellites to China, or, at least Thales is going to get sales that neither US satellite manufacturers nor any foreign manufacturers who use ITAR components will get. Clearly, in attempting to prevent satellite sales to China, the US has used the ITAR to dam up most of the river while leaving an opening wide enough to launch a Thales satellite through. So, the Chinese get communication satellites and US manufacturers get bumpkiss (i.e., nothing). Well, perhaps US policy makers still feel good about the symbolic nature of the US “no satellite sales to China” policy, and as US policy makers are perched high atop their self-designated moral high ground, they will have a clear view of the ITAR-free satellite sales to China.
I will not ask if anybody in the US Government has unofficially threatened Thales or attempted to convince Thales to not go down the ITAR-free path.