India beckons and more U.S. companies are responding.
According to a spokesperson at the U.S. Department of State, the State
Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) received a
total of 165 applications for so-called "USML Category XV" exports to
India from 55 applicants for the period from January to September 2011
whereas last year during the same period, DDTC received 99 applications
from 41 applicants.
"USML Category XV" refers to a broad category of items on the U.S.
Munitions List listed as "Spacecraft Systems and Associated Equipment."
Both the U.S. Arms Export Control Act and more specifically, the
International Traffic In Arms Regulations apply here.
The Missile Technology Control Regime Annex involving multiple items
for export that are controlled by both the Department of Commerce via
its Commodity Control List (CCL) and by the Department of State via its
USML is relevant to this discussion too.
Monitoring requirements are applied to licenses by the State Dept.
based on the recommendations received in the course of interagency
review and yet, once DDTC has finalized the license and imposes
monitoring requirements, it is up to the U.S. Defense Technology
Security Administration which is part of the U.S. Department of Defense
to implement and administer any monitoring if the export actually takes
place.
According to this same spokesperson, since the signing of the
Technology Safeguards Agreement between the Government of India and the
U.S. Government, DDTC has approved several licenses for the export of
USML hardware for incorporation into several civil spacecraft
manufactured outside of India which identified India as a potential
launch location.
Bharath Gopalaswamy, a senior research scholar at Cornell University’s
Judith Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, is directing a
project on space security. When asked if the timing might be far from
ideal in terms of large scale exporting of space technology items from
eager companies in the U.S. to any potential partners in India, he
offered this quick assessment.
"The timing is not far from ideal. In fact, there is no ideal timing.
Large scale exporting is on three levels: political, technical and
bureaucratic. While politically Obama sent a signal earlier this year -
Indian entities were removed from the sanctions list - bureaucratically
this has to be implemented. This is a process and it is natural that it
takes its time," said Gopalaswamy.
In a paper he penned for the Center for Strategic and International
Studies entitled, "Indo-U.S. Space Cooperation: Aiming Higher" (August
2011), he stated that, "Indo - U.S. space cooperation is getting
traction, with prompting and support from the political leadership of
both countries."
However, while the political leadership cannot write the entire script
let alone fine tune any contractual details, it can help to ensure
that the bureaucracies in both countries are receptive to and
supportive of the objectives at hand.
"The bureaucracies are not fully familiar with each other. For example,
both countries want to actively collaborate in space. External
collaboration has always been a strong flavor of the Indian space
program - the Indian space program has been shaped by realism and
pragmatism," said Gopalaswamy. "It is just that identifying areas to
engage and structuring that cooperation with the U.S. has been
challenging because of the nature in which these bureaucracies
function."
Budgetary cutbacks in the U.S. space program and massive layoffs which
are putting NASA on edge are certainly prompting U.S. companies to
engage the Indian space sector.
"Shrinking resources and cutbacks in the US space program is causing
American companies to seek ventures abroad; India is a very attractive
customer!" said Gopalaswamy.
Both sides ought to contemplate how far they can go down the
reciprocally beneficial path wherein New Delhi is authorized to engage
in commercial space launches of U.S. satellites or satellites with
U.S.- origin components, paired in exchange for liberalization of
India's space industrial base so that private American firms could bid
for contracts within India's civilian space market, and in conjunction
with private Indian players supply space-linked commercial services to
the Indian market, according to Sourabh Gupta, senior research
associate at Samuels International in Washington, DC.
"Regarding India, with its civilian space entities finally off the
entity list, maybe it is time for forward movement towards a commercial
space launch agreement. But I have heard no footsteps in this direction
particularly during their recent Strategic Dialogue," said Gupta who
recommends moving the relationship beyond a strictly
government-to-government one, and lowering protectionist barriers that
restrict American participation in the civilian space market.
"This won't be realized immediately, but this ought to be the logical
next step in discussions, now that the "entity list" irritants have
been solved," said Gupta who also drew attention to, "the stand-offish
ways of the U.S. on civilian space - many of which are for good
reasons - which are also gradually debilitating to its interests."
"By playing a comparatively limited role in the evolving realm of
technological cooperation among space-faring aspirants, it is losing
some of its ability to shape best practices and deepen relationships,"
said Gupta. "Understandably there are reasons why the U.S. does not
want to assist in development of indigenous launch
capabilities, etc., but there surely could be other civilian space
sub-sectors where dual technology cooperation and advisory input on
technological development by the U.S. is feasible."
Cooperation may finally be picking up speed now, but it is not a
fast-paced phenomenon.
"Space has remained an important agenda in U.S. - India relations for
more than a decade now. Space cooperation has been identified in
almost all conceivable bilateral documents between the two countries,
although in reality, space has remained in the realm of potentials,"
said Dr. Rajeswari Rajagopalan, senior fellow in security studies at
the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi. "Now that the nuclear
deal is over between India and the U.S., the need for a big idea to
drive the relations is urgent and is of import. In the absence of a big
idea, there is a fear that the countries could drift apart even when
there is intent at the highest level of the political leadership in
both countries."
How can both countries elevate three strategic objectives through a
mutually beneficial space cooperation initiative?
"First, it provides an exciting investment area of space in the Indo -
U.S. strategic partnership for Indian and American leaders to work on,
which addresses STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics), jobs and high-tech cooperation in space," said Dr.
Rajagopalan. "Second, it can catapult space industrialization and
commercial space from the edge of the Indian and American national
space paradigm to its forefront. Third, it can garner further resources
for our own STEM in developing a future strategic industry."
She recommended that, "a Space Commercial Initiative / Space Knowledge
Initiative modeled around the US -India Agricultural Knowledge
Initiative or the Clean Energy Initiative. This would go a long way in
sustaining everyone's interest and ensuring the longevity of space
cooperation."
Besides, she added, "India has been attached a great deal of importance
to Obama’s vision for the future as far as the space domain is
concerned. With the removal of most U.S. high technology sanctions on
Indian agencies, particularly on ISRO, few hurdles remain in the path
of greater cooperation in this arena."
In addition to having the sanctions lifted on ISRO and other associated
organizations, she described some of the recent initiatives on the U.S.
side which are particularly reassuring to the Indian space sector.
"For instance, the current Administration’s Export Control Reform
initiative 2011 is shifting several items from the USML to the CCL.
This will impact upon the sensitivity attached to a particular item in
a positive manner and thereby ease the transaction in question," said
Dr. Rajagopalan.
The reassessment of the USML Category XV and the corresponding CCL
categories along with "fresh thinking" as to how some of these items on
these lists can be brought under Presidential control, wherein the U.S.
President could authorize sale / transfer through a statute has helped
to boost optimism.
"This is seen as an important move since technological development is
taking place at a radically fast pace and if the U.S. is not able to
adapt itself and be flexible, it is only likely to lose out, not just
in terms of participating in commercial ventures, but in strategic
terms as well," said Dr. Rajagopalan.
"Recently the Indian Minister of State Anand Sharma noted the success
of the clean energy initiative wherein there is greater participation
from the private sector as well as the academia," said Dr. Rajagopalan.
"Space cooperation can generate stakeholders across a wide spectrum,
from the national space agencies on both sides - NASA and ISRO -
education and science and technology departments to universities as
well as private commercial enterprises in both countries. In fact,
space cooperation has the potential to go far beyond entities like ISRO
and catalyze new strategic industries in space."
Seeing a jump of more than 50 per cent per year - from 99 export
applications from 41 applicants last year to 165 applications from 55
applicants this year - is bound to make many space entrepreneurs
downright jubilant.
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