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January 2006

Space Watch
Week of January 16 - January 20, 2006

Welcome to Space Watch. This is a weekly update compiled by The Eisenhower Institute of the most significant news items in civil, military and commercial space.

If you are interested in receiving a weekly email update version of Space Watch, please send an email to spacewatch@eisenhowerinstitute.org with the word "subscribe" in the subject line. Space Watch will be sent out every Friday.

Civil Space

Congress Visits Chinese Space Facilities
United States Representative Tom Feeney (R-FL), Mark Kirk (R-IL), and Rick Larsen (D-WA) wrapped up a tour of China this week with a visit to China's space-launch facility, called the Jiuquan Space Facility. The delegation is the first American-led group to see up close and personal the launch facilities which are located in a remote stretch of Chinese desert. The group is there to help improve US-China relations. It has been widely reported that China is expressing interest in joining the International Space Station partnership. Some in the US have purported that space cooperation would be an excellent first step in improving US-China relations. Feeney's goal was to get a better sense of China's intentions in space, whether they be peaceful or for military purposes. The debate in Washington over China's progress in space and what it means for US national security has been brewing since China's first manned space flight in 2003.
(Kelly, John. http://www.flatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060115/NEWS02/601150341/1007, 1/15/06).

NPOESS Over Budget, Triggers Review
The U.S. Air Force notified Congress last week that the newest generation of weather satellites, the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS), was over budget by more than 25 percent. The passing of the 25 percent threshold sets into motion the Nunn-McCurdy legislation passed by Congress which requires a mandatory review of the program. This review could possibly lead to a cancellation or a severe cut-back in programming funds. The program cost have risen above the $7.4 billion mark due primarily to technical difficulties with its sensors. The undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics will ultimately decide the fate of the program in May.
(Space News, 1/16/06).

European Space Lab Gathers Dust on Earth
The grounding of the US space shuttle has forced Europe to search for alternative ways of launching its $1.21 billion space laboratory. The Columbus research center has been gathering dust since the space shuttle was grounded in 2003. The US shuttle is the only vehicle currently capable of carrying equipment as large as the European space laboratory. The next shuttle launch is set for some time in May, but other countries are also expecting to launch their own scientific projects. The Japanese, for example, want their laboratory launched as quickly as possible. "If there is one lesson we have learned," says Jean-Jacques Dordain, director general of the European Space Agency, "it's that it should not depend on one launcher."
(Willard, Anna. http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyID=2006-01-16T184730Z_01_L16758756_RTRUKOC_0_US-SPACE-EU.xml&archived=False, 1/16/06).

NASA Outlines CEV and Moon Plans
NASA outlined a basic calendar for the launching of the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) and the future mission to the Moon. According to the draft plan, NASA expects to land on the Moon on March 31, 2018, while lunar outpost construction should begin a year after that. According to the plan, astronauts should expect to be launched in the CEV for two earlier lunar flights no later than March 31, 2017. CEV flights will begin in 2008. The first manned CEV flight should occur no later than May 1, 2012. NASA has emphasized that this is only a draft schedule but that no matter how the schedule unfolds, they plan on returning to the moon by 2018.
(Flight International, http://www.flightinternational.com/Articles/+out++plans.html, 1/17/06).

India Wants To Help Mars Mission
Indian Space Research Organization Chairman, G. Madhavan Nair, said recently that India would like to be a partner in a possible joint venture to Mars. "For mankind, the next interesting thing (after Moon) is Mars," says Nair. India is already planning on sending an unmanned scientific mission to the Moon in early 2008. The program, called the Chandrayaan-1 satellite, is set to be placed in polar orbit around the moon. According to Nair, the US has begun to seek a global partnership for planetary explorations to Mars and beyond. "If planetary explorations become an international theme, it benefits all. India will welcome such a move from any quarter," says Nair.
(India Daily, http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/6485.asp, 1/17/06).

Galileo Unit Sends First Signals Home
The first Galileo satellite, which was launched on December 28th, transmitted its first signals to Earth this week. The satellite, called the Giove-A, is designed to secure access to the frequencies that will eventually serve the entire Galileo system. The frequency space had been set aside for Galileo by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The Giove-A will be followed closely by the Giove-B, currently in Rome for final testing and assembly. Galileo is set to be Europe's version of the US GPS system and will be interoperable with both GPS and Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System (Glonass).
(Alcatel Press Release, http://www.alcatel.com/vpr/?body=http://www.home.alcatel.com/vpr/vpr.nsf/DateKey/17012006uk, 1/17/06).

NASA's Stardust Spacecraft is Huge Success
NASA's Stardust spacecraft successfully parachuted to Earth on Sunday completing its seven year, 3 billion mile trip. In 2004, the ship had passed within 150 miles of the Wild-2 comet in order to snag gas and dust particles from the comet's path. Until this week, NASA scientists could not be sure whether or not the spacecraft's tennis-racket shaped collector had actually garnered any samples. They would be ecstatic with the results. On Tuesday, scientists opened the collector. "It's better than we could have possibly hoped for," said Don Brownlee, principle investigator for the $212 million program. "We have a huge number of impacts, and some are quite big and visible to the naked eye." Scientists will spend a week studying the material and extracting particles from the collector. With thousands of samples to inspect, researchers hope to get a better understanding of comet composition and movement.
(Doughton, Sandi. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002747255_webstardust18.html, 1/18/06).

Roskosmos Sponsors Contest for New Spaceship
The Russian Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) is entertaining applications for the design of a new generation of space shuttles. Three Russian corporations have reportedly submitted designs. The Energia Rocket and space Corporation has produced the Clipper spaceship design for the contest. According to Energia, the spaceship comfortably seats six crewmembers and can land on ordinary airfields. With a weight of 14.5 tons, the design is expected to transport up to 700 kilograms of cargo to the ISS and back. The Khrunichev Research and Production Center produced a transport space system (TSS), and the Molniya Research and Production Association produced a modern MAKS system. The results of the contest will be released on February 3rd of this year.
(ITAR-TASS, http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=2802311&PageNum=0, 1/18/06).

New Horizons Ship Launches Towards Pluto
NASA's New Horizons mission was finally launched towards Pluto at 2 pm on Thursday. The launch occurred after nearly two days of delays. The delays occurred after a power outage at mission control in Maryland on Tuesday. Thursday's launch, too, was delayed, this time due to cloud cover. The New Horizons mission, the first orbital launch of 2006, was launched on board an Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The ship, designed to gather information on Pluto, the furthest planet in the solar system, will fly past Jupiter in 2007 and Pluto in July 2015. The system has drawn critics for its use of plutonium as a source of power. Though delayed, there appeared to be no problems with the launch.
(Schneider, Mike. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060119/ap_on_sc/pluto_mission, 1/19/06).

Commercial

Effects of ITAR on US Commercial Satellite Industry Examined
In an end-of-the-year report by Space Review, Ryan Zelnio examined the effect of the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR) on the US commercial satellite market as a whole. Zelnio demonstrates that prior to 1999, when the export controls were initiated, the US owned the satellite-manufacturing market with an average share of 83%. That share has declined to 50%. From China alone, the US industry has lost between $1.5 to $3.0 billion to European and Israeli suppliers. As no Chinese operator has purchased from the US, many more operators from across the globe are getting fed up with the export red tape, including Arabsat and Telstat Canada. Zelnio argues that the biggest benefactor to US export policies has been Alcatel of France. Alcatel, in the early 2000's, announced that they would begin to build ITAR-free spacecraft. Since 1999, they have doubled their market share from 10% to 20%. In conclusion, Zelnio argues that current export policy has drastically increased the cost associated with doing business for US satellite manufacturers and has decreased their ability to compete in the global marketplace. For the US to maintain its leadership in the area, drastic changes will have to be undertaken, changes that do not seem to be close at hand.
(Zelnio, Ryan. http://www.thespacereview.com/article/533/1, 1/16/06).

Feds May Intervene in Boeing Strike
Striking Boeing workers are asking federal mediators to intervene in order to bring all sides to the table, according to officials. Workers from Boeing's Delta Rocket program walked off the job on November 2nd after the union and Boeing administration failed to come to terms on a three-year contract. Leaders had met on January 9th to discuss the issue, but neither side reportedly offered any compromise agreements. Due to the strike, certain payload launches have been put on hold, including an NRO satellite, an advanced weather satellite and an atmospheric science mission for NASA. The workers' union is arguing that the pay package offered by Boeing would not even keep pace with inflation.
(Halvorson, Todd. http://www.flatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060118/BUSINESS/601180354/1007/NEWS02, 1/18/06).

Opinion

Opinion: The New Space Race; Follow the Talent
In Rich Karlgaard's recent opinion piece, he laments the state of the American space program in today's international environment. He asks us to look back at the 1960's and see how quickly the space program progressed, only to be slowed down abruptly, "as if slamming into a meteor field." He argues that 34 years after we put a man on the moon, the space program has gone nowhere. During this same period, he purports that computational power has advanced more than a millionfold. He argues that the space program is stuck, not because of money, but because of lack of imagination, courage, will, and persistence. NASA no longer gets the first cut of science, engineering, and management talent, according to Karlgaard. These types of talents are moving instead to private industry. So, as a remedy, Karlgaard tells the space industry to follow the talent to the private sector.
(Karlgaard, Rich. http://www.forbes.-talent.html?boxes=custom, 1/18/06).

Opinion: Critical Year in Space Exploration
In an editorial this week, the Berkshire Eagle argued that the year 2006 will be an extremely important year in space exploration. It will either be a year to remember or the year the unmanned space program peaked and began a rapid descent. The year starts with the New Horizon's program, the plutonium-powered craft designed to reach Pluto. It comes quickly on the heels of the return of the Stardust spacecraft. In addition, NASA's Messenger probe is set to fly near Venus on its way to Mercury, the Mars explorers continue to function, and the Cassini probe will take a closer look at Saturn's moon, Titan. NASA has much to gain from each of these programs, but they must also make the case this year that Congress' open pocket-books have been worth the cost.
(http://www.berkshireeagle.com/editorials/ci_3412733, 1/18/06).

Credits

Compiled and Edited by Chad Kreikemeier

Civil Space

Commercial

Opinion

Credits

Compiled and Edited by Chad Kreikemeier

Space Watch
Week of January 23 - January 27, 2006

Welcome to Space Watch. This is a weekly update compiled by The Eisenhower Institute of the most significant news items in civil, military and commercial space.

If you are interested in receiving a weekly email update version of Space Watch, please send an email to spacewatch@eisenhowerinstitute.org with the word "subscribe" in the subject line. Space Watch will be sent out every Friday.

Civil Space

Russia Will Launch ArabSat
Russian officials have announced that they will launch the Arab communications satellite ArabSat 4A in March 2006 from the Baikonur space center. It will be the first launch for Baikonur in 2006. The satellite is paid for by the Arab Satellite Communications Organization, which was established in 1967 by the member-states of the Arab League.
(RIA Novosti, http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060123/43146327.html, 1/23/06).

India, US Reach Deal on Space Components
Indian and US officials have reached a deal to allow Indian rockets launch satellites with US components. The deal was agreed to at the recent meeting between Indian Foreign Secretary Shayam Saran and US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns last week. The first such launch will probably take place in late 2007 or early 2008, according to news reports. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is expecting to launch a US moon mineralogy mapper and a synthetic aperture radar on board the Indian Chandrayan 1 moon probe at that time. The deal comes on the heels of a framework agreement signed by the US and India during the Indian Prime Minister's trip to the US last year.
(UPI, http://www.upi.com/InternationalIntelligence/view.php?StoryID=20060124-050252-7160r, 1/24/06).

Asteroid Mission in Jeopardy of Folding
According to NASA officials, two independent review panels will brief the agency's top managers this week regarding the status of the over-budget and behind-schedule Dawn mission. The mission is set to visit two asteroids, named Ceres and Vesta, in the belt between Mars and Jupiter. It is supposed to spend several months studying each of the two asteroids. The craft was expected to launch in June 2006, but now it won't launch until spring 2007, at best. The project was anticipated to cost no more than $300 million; however, current managers are suggesting that it might run up to as much as $425 million. "They did not react well to that news," explained the mission's principal investigator when he was forced to inform NASA of the budget problems. A decision on the mission is expected within weeks. At the very worst, the panel might vote to cancel the entire project.
(Hecht, Jeff. http://www.newscientistspace.-asteroid-mission.html, 1/24/06).

Scientists Discover New Planet
On Wednesday, astronomers announced the discovery of a new Earthlike planet outside of our solar system. The body is possibly the smallest planet known outside of our own system that is orbiting a normal star. The new planet, named OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb, is estimated by scientists to be around 5.5 times as massive as Earth and thought to have a rocky surface. It orbits a star from nearly 28,000 light years away and is probably much too cold to support extra-terrestrial life. The planet was discovered using a technique called gravitational microlensing. The process is a complicated technique which uses light from a foreground star to magnify the light from a more distant star. Scientists hope they can use microlensing to find distant planets that are earthlike and can sustain liquid water and support life. Because the process relies on a complicated series of events, it cannot ever be repeated for the same finding. However, scientists say that the observation can be simultaneously verified by different locations around the world.
(Than, Ker. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11013519/, 1/25/06).

Russia to Aim for Moon Base in 2015
Nikolai Sevastyanov, the head of a leading Russian space company, was quoted this week as saying that he would like to see a permanent Russian moon base by the year 2015. Sevastyanov, of the RKK Energiya Company, argued that mining helium-3 from the moon for a potential source of future energy would be one of the highest priorities of such an expedition. RKK was the company that built the Soyuz and Progress spacecrafts and is now in the process of developing the new Klipper spacecraft. Sevastyanov's words are largely seen as an effort to win government funds, as no funding has yet to be appropriated for the moon exploration. He argues that his agency's new Klipper spacecraft will be able to serve as a transport ship to deliver the helium for use on Earth. Some scientists believe that helium-3 offers a way to generate future nuclear electricity without producing nuclear waste.
(Associated Press, http://space.com/news/ap_060126_russia_moon.html, 1/26/06).

IMAX Details Rover Successes
Walt Disney is set to release a documentary which tracks the successful operation of the two Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, this week. The picture, released in IMAX theatres throughout the country, is called "Roving Mars." It details how the rovers were supposed to have died only 90 days after they began their Mars explorations in 2004, and yet, to this day, they continue to operate on the red planet providing details and pictures about its surface and conditions. The movie quotes Steve Squyers, a major participant in the Mars expedition, as suggesting that the successful landing of the rovers was like "shooting a basketball from Los Angeles to New York and making the basket without even touching the rim."
(Britton, Bonnie. http://www.indystar.com/a/1080/ENTERTAINMENT03, 1/27/06).

Commercial

Northrup Space Profits Jump
According to a report released by Northrup Grumman this week, the company's space technology division increased sales over the course of the last year. This came despite lower sales from satellite communications and missile defense system programs. The margin was made up by increased sales in civil space and intelligence systems. This year, according to Northrup, the space division ran an operating margin of $255 million compared to last year's reported $222 million. Northrup's total space sales reached nearly $3.4 billion in 2005.
(Pae, Peter. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-northrop25jan25,1,3621807.story?coll=la-headlines-business&ctrack=1&cset=true, 1/25/06).

Military

Japanese Party Seeks to Increase Military Space Defense
Japan's ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), is calling for the government to allow space research to be used for defense purposes. Since 1969, Japan's space program has been prohibited to only peaceful purposes by a self-imposed ban on military uses of space. According to Japanese sources, the LDP will call for research on space programs that can be used for "non-aggression self-defense purposes." Japan's self-imposed ban was instigated as a response to their 1947 pacifist constitution. Lately, the Japanese government has been stretching the interpretation of the constitution, suggesting that it allows for armed forces strictly for self-defense.
(Reuters, http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyID=2006-01-25T111511Z_01_T245109_RTRUKOC_0_US-JAPAN-SPACE-DEFENCE.xml&archived=False, 1/25/06).

Air Force to Test Hypersonic Vehicle
The Air Force is expecting to test drive its fastest craft in September of 2007. In conjunction with NASA, Sandia National Laboratories, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Air Force has been designing and constructing the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle (HTV-1). At its first test flight, Air Force officials expect the craft to reach Mach 19 (or 19 times the speed of sound), briefly exit the Earth's atmosphere, and ultimately reach altitudes of between 100,000 and 150,000 feet above the Earth's surface. At nearly 15,000 miles, the vehicle will need to be capable of withstanding intense heat and pressure. The HTV is being touted as technology capable of getting payload to an area of interest quickly and in support of the joint warfighter.
(David, Leonard. http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/060126_darpa_falcon.html, 1/26/06).

Space Watch
Week of January 30 - February 3, 2006

Welcome to Space Watch. This is a weekly update compiled by The Eisenhower Institute of the most significant news items in civil, military and commercial space.

If you are interested in receiving a weekly email update version of Space Watch, please send an email to spacewatch@eisenhowerinstitute.org with the word "subscribe" in the subject line. Space Watch will be sent out every Friday.

Civil Space

NASA Hopes to Land on Moon Earlier
ATK Thiokol, the launching firm chosen to design and construct the rockets for NASA's return trip to the moon, is beginning to streamline its work in order to land astronauts a bit earlier than originally expected. Thiokol is designing the Crew Launch Vehicle's first stage rocket and is beginning to plan on speeding up the design and construction of that launching vehicle. Though NASA has yet to announce a new, shorter timeline for a lunch landing, several internal documents have been uncovered which call the revised approach "Lunar Sooner." The new program is reportedly set to return NASA to the moon in 2017, nearly 3 years before President Bush's original suggestion of 2020. The rockets will be set to launch the astronaut-carrying Crew Exploration Vehicle, which is targeted for a first flight in 2012.
(Berger, Brian. Space News, 1/30/06).

Methane Dropped from CEV Program
According to NASA officials, the space agency has decided to turn away from using methane to fuel the new Crew Exploration Vehicle's engines. Proponents of the methane utilizing engine are arguing that this is a missed opportunity for NASA to remain on the cutting edge of technological advancement. In stead, NASA has decided to proceed with the design of a CEV which includes a propulsion system that consumes hypergolic propellants. The hypergols, including nitrogen tetroxide and monomethyl hydrazine, are currently being used because they are easier to store and highly reliable. However, these propellants offer much lower performance than the clean-burning methane. In addition, they are highly dangerous and must be carefully handled. "I thought it was pretty visionary of NASA to consider methane because it confirmed their role as a wellspring of technology and innovation," said a disappointed Orion Propulsion President, Tim Pickens, upon hearing that NASA was going to drop the methane plan.
(Berger, Brian. Space News, 1/30/06).

Shuttle Disaster Anniversaries Remembered This Week
Wednesday, February 1st marked the third anniversary of the Columbia shuttle disaster. Memorial services were held in the Texas towns of San Augustine and Hemphill, where search efforts were concentrated at that time. The Columbia accident took the lives of the seven crew members that were on board as it burned up upon re-entry. In addition, this last Saturday marked the 20th anniversary of the Challenger shuttle disaster in 1986, which exploded shortly after liftoff from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
(Associated Press, http://www.team4news.com/Global/story.asp?S=4440888&nav=0w0v, 2/1/06).

New Planet's Size Larger Than Pluto
Nearly one year ago, astronomers announced that they had discovered a new planet beyond Pluto. Named UB313, the so-called tenth planet orbits the sun from nearly 14 billion kilometers away. As such, the planet's size has been for the most part elusive for scientists. German astronomers, however, have determined that the planet has a diameter of roughly 3,000 kilometers. This is nearly 700 kilometers larger than Pluto's diameter. Frank Bertoldi and his German counterparts used the IRAM 30-meter telescope in Spain to observe the tenth planet in infrared range. The new findings only add fuel to the current debate in astronomical circles as to what, in reality, constitutes a planet. The International Astronomical Union is working on a definition which will include Pluto, but because this definition will be based on size, many more heavenly bodies will have to be taken into account if this definition is applied.
(Biello, David. http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=0005634C-336B-13E1-B36B83414B7F0000, 2/2/06)

Astronaut Spacesuit to Embark on One-way Space Walk
On Friday, astronauts on board the International Space Station are preparing to stuff an old spacesuit with discarded clothes and a radio transmitter and send it hurtling through space by simply throwing it outside. As it floats through space, the transmitter will send previously recorded messages in six languages out to Earth where amateur radio operators will be able to listen to the recordings. Eventually the spacesuit will meet its demise as it enters the Earth's atmosphere and burns up. The stunt, cooked up by a Russian ham radio operator, will be able to be captured by tuning into FM frequency 145.990 MHz.
(Schneider, Mike. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060203/ap_on_sc/space_station, 2/2/06).

Probe Finds Ice on Comet
The Deep Impact probe which connected with the Tempel 1 comet on July 4th has reportedly found the first evidence of ice on the dusty surface of comets. This furthers the possibility that comets may have originally delivered water to primeval Earth. As the Deep Impact probe collided with Tempel 1 it sent much of the comet's interior into the air. The probe's mother ship and several other nearby satellites were able to analyze the materials that spewed forth from the comet upon impact. Analysis suggests that the comet has three pockets of thin ice that cover nearly 300,000 square feet on the surface of the comet. "It's like a seven-acre skating rink of snowy dirt," said Peter Schultz, a Deep Impact investigator.
(Associated Press. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA-, 2/3/06).

NASA Inspector Investigated for Safety Violations
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is reportedly opening up an investigation into multiple complaints accusing NASA Inspector General of failing to properly investigate safety violations and improperly retaliating against whistle-blowers in the agency. The Inspector General, Robert W. Cobb, has been accused by at no less than 16 people from within his own office. Mr. Cobb, appointed by President Bush in 2002, has allegedly suppressed investigations of safety violations within the agency and has abused his own investigators when they persisted in raising concerns. The complaints are being reviewed by the Integrity Committee of the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency.
(Gugliotta, Guy. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/02/AR2006020202721.html, 2/3/06).

Commercial

Boeing Strike to End February 6th
The aerospace conglomerate Boeing announced that workers on strike in Alabama, Florida, and California will be returning to work on February 6th, ending a 3 month long strike. They have reportedly accepted an offer from the company for pay raises, bonuses, and a pension increase. The strike, which began in early November, had halted operations on Boeing's Delta Rocket project since that time. "We are pleased the agreements were ratified and look forward to our employees returning to work," said Tom Easley, Boeing's lead negotiator this week.
(Birmingham Business Journal, http://birmingham.bizjournals.com/birmingham/stories/2006/01/30/daily29.html, 1/30/06).

Rocket Racing Reality Coming to Fruition
According to the newly formed Rocket Racing League, two retired military pilots are set to be the owners of the very first rocket racing team. Retired Air Force pilots Robert Rickard and Don Grantham, Jr. will own the first rocket team, a team that has been nick-named the Leading Edge Rocket Racing team. According to the two men, however, they are not planning on piloting the team's rocket plane. They are leaving that to someone who is more "trustworthy." The Rocket Racing League is planning to hold their races in New Mexico in conjunction with the X Prize Cup Competition. It will consist of low-altitude, rocket-powered aircraft racing at speeds of nearly 300 miles an hour one mile in the air.
(Associated Press, http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/38781.html, 1/31/06).

Europe Urges US to Assess Technology Transfer Rules
Senior European defense directors are asking the United States to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the current technology transfer laws to determine whether or not the regulations excessively hamper business. Derek Marshall of the Society of British Aerospace Companies argues that the time has come for the US to seriously reconsider some of the regulations in place dealing with technology transfers. The European industries are looking especially to the International Transfer in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which they have purported are being applied with little to no thought. For instance, a recent working group had large amounts of documents restricted from Europeans. On further review, nearly 90% of those documents should not have fallen under ITAR regulations. An EADS official argued that 50-60 cooperative projects are basically being stalled because of ITAR.
(Wall, Robert. http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/news/channel_aerospacedaily_story.jsp?id=news/IMP02016.xml, 2/1/06).

Military

Confidence in MDA Not High
Reports from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Office and from the Pentagon's senior testing official paint a very pessimistic picture of the Missile Defense Agency's progress over the last year or so. This is a far cry from the 2003 assessment from the Pentagon's top acquisition official that the program had a 90% chance of destroying an incoming missile launched form North Korea. Though MDA director Trey Obering says internal success estimates for the program are classified, his assessment that the system has a "better than zero chance" of intercepting a missile fired at the US is not a very rosy picture. The two recently released reports only add to the pessimism. The CRS report argues that there is "insufficient empirical data" to support whether or not the system can protect the US from attack. The report also calls the likelihood that technology will ever prove to be effective in this endeavor quite "ambiguous."
(Singer, Jeremy. Space News, 1/30/06).

Opinion

Op-Ed: Missile Defense Still Controversial
According to Taylor Dinerman's recent op-ed, he argues that the Bush Administration's decision to continue President Clinton's focus on a ground mid-course interception system was a poor one, as a move to a space-based boost phase program would have been easier to deploy and to test. However, he argues that the sea-based missile defense program has shown some significant advances in recent times, including the November test which hit its target at more than 160 kilometers altitude and 600 kilometers from the launch site. He purports that the Iranian threat, which is beginning to reach a climax, is yet another reason why the US should continue to support the missile defense program. "If so many western statesmen say it is unacceptable for Iran to have nuclear weapons, then doing something about it is going to involve more than just diplomacy." Whatever the outcome in Iran, Dinerman argues that the next few years will provide some "predictable, yet fascinating" political debate within Congress regarding the missile defense system.
(Dinerman, Taylor. http://www.thespacereview.com/article/542/1, 1/30/06).