Recommendations Approved by the National Space Council to President Trump
Recommendations Approved by the National Space Council to President Trump
Recommendations on Human Space Exploration
1. Consistent with the overall goals of SPD-1, the United States will seek to land Americans on the Moon’s South Pole by 2024, establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon by 2028, and chart a future path for human Mars exploration. NASA’s lunar presence will focus on science, resource utilization, and risk reduction for future missions to Mars.
2. NASA will continue to improve its structure and management, and improve cost and schedule performance, to implement SPD-1, seeking legislative authorization as necessary. NASA will create a Moon-to-Mars Mission Directorate and make all necessary efforts to achieve Exploration Mission-1 no later than 2020 and Exploration Mission-2 no later than 2022.
3. NASA will unleash American industry, including public-private partnerships and other mechanisms, to enhance innovation and sustainability of activities from low Earth orbit to the lunar surface and beyond.
4. The United States will engage with and involve current and future international partners to enable a sustainable program of lunar exploration and development.
5. The NASA Administrator will provide an update on the implementation of SPD-1 and these specific items to the Chair at the next meeting of the National Space Council.
Recommendations on Space-Related Export Controls Activities
1. Short-term actions to enhance industry experience
– By April 30, 2019, the Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration (DOT/FAA), in coordination with the Department of Commerce (DOC), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), will provide a work plan to the IWG for a series of industry days to discuss space-related export control regulations and the licensing process. These discussions will be supported by subject matter experts, as appropriate, from NSC, NSpC, DOC, the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of Energy (DOE), and the State Department (State) and could be supported through dialogue with relevant industry groups regarding specific changes to export control regulations. Additionally, agencies are encouraged to leverage their Federal Advisory Committees, such as the DOT/FAA Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC), for inputs.
– By April 30, 2019, DOC, in coordination with DOD, State, DHS, and the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS), will submit a work plan to create a user-friendly searchable version of the control lists on the Export.gov website. This work plan will also identify a path for DOC to ensure it is updated regularly with regulatory changes and related news. The DOC International Trade Administration’s (DOC/ITA) Export.gov website provides advice and business tools to help United States companies expand in global markets. It includes a one-stop shop for various control list updates and screening lists as well as announcements and updates related to export control reform. Keeping this website appropriately updated and creating user-friendly lists would significantly decrease administrative time required by industry for the revaluation of potential exports and submission of applications.
– By April 30, 2019, DOD, DOC, CIFUS, and State will submit a report to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and NSC staff that identifies the obstacles preventing the integration of a single information technology system for administering export controls. This report will address issues regarding classification, funding, hardware and software, and maintenance, and will include a work plan detailing steps to complete integration. Although this action is part of a larger Export Control Reform (ECR) effort, completion of this particular aspect would reduce licensing processing times and assist in interagency communication and transparency.
2. Short-term regulatory and policy actions
– By April 30, 2019, State will report to the IWG on the status of the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rule-Making (ANPRM), published on March 8, 2019, seeking public comment on export controls implemented in United States Munitions List (USML) Categories IV (launch vehicles) and XV (spacecraft).
– By April 30, 2019, DOC will report to the IWG on the status of the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rule-Making (ANPRM) published on March 8, 2019, seeking public comment on space-related export controls implemented on the Commerce Control List (CCL).
– By June 28, 2019, based on feedback from the ANPRM processes, State, DOC, and DOD, in coordination with the Department of Energy (DOE), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and NASA, will create a work plan to identify additional technologies where changes in controls would require legislation or would raise significant policy concerns. This work plan should discuss the process by which the IWG should consider these technologies, consider how this effort can merge with statutory direction in Section 1758 of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018, and possibly conduct industry meetings to gather additional information as needed.
– By April 30, 2019, the State Department, in consultation with DOT, will provide a work plan to establish clear guidance regarding requirements and implementation of Technology Safeguards Agreements (TSAs) on space launch activities. The plan will include options for improved transparency to facilitate the sharing of timely and appropriate guidance with the United States space launch industry. TSAs provide the framework for United States industry participation in certain space launch activities, while remaining aligned with United States Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) commitments and the strong presumption of denial for transfers of MTCR Category I systems outside of United States control.
– By April 30, 2019, DOC and NASA will provide a status update on potential amendments to the Export Administration Regulations related to NASA’s ability to use license exceptions. NASA activities covered by legally binding agreements with certain foreign entities should be applicable to 15 CFR chapter VII subchapter C, § 740.11 (Governments, international organizations, international inspections under the Chemical Weapons Convention, and the International Space Station (GOV)).
3. Ongoing and longer-term regulatory and policy activities
– Departments and agencies, including law enforcement and the Intelligence Community, routinely monitor space-related activity and attempted acquisition by foreign adversaries and competitors working to mitigate both licit and illicit attempts to exploit United States technology.
– By April 30, 2019, State, DOC, DOD, DNI, DHS, and DOE, consistent with the National Security Strategy, will provide a work plan to ensure coordination between regulators and both law enforcement and the Intelligence Community, as needed, to safeguard against regulatory changes or licensing policies that could inadvertently benefit certain adversaries and competitors.
– By April 30, 2019, State, in coordination with the interagency, will report the status of efforts within the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) related to the proposal by the United States and the United Kingdom to move certain air launch platforms and suborbital vehicles to the WA dual-use list. o State reports that a dual-use control on air launch platforms was adopted at the December 2018 Wassenaar Plenary. DOC is preparing regulations to implement this control.
– A new proposal for a dual-use control on suborbital vehicles was submitted to the WA for consideration in 2019.
4. Administration
– State and DOC, as co-chairs, will continue their regularized Space Working Group process to review United States Munitions List (USML) categories and CCL Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) related to space and will provide a status update on their progress quarterly to the IWG beginning on April 30. In the first update, the co-chairs shall submit to the IWG a schedule on which they commit to reviewing those categories and EECNs going forward. The National Security Presidential Memorandum-4 process, under the supervision of the Export Controls Policy Coordination Committee (PCC) and with participation from the NSpC staff, will be used to adjudicate disagreements.
