Washington DC – July 9, 1998 UPI – The U.S. Commerce Department attempted in May, 1993 to release technical data on a U.S. made satellite without a review by either the State or Defense Departments. According to documents released today by the Senate, the data in question concerned a Hughes Aircraft Corporation communications satellite that had been approved in November, 1992 for launch aboard a Chinese space booster.
The release sought by Commerce and requested by Hughes officials
would have been possible by reclassifying the technical material from
munitions-related information to a commodity.
Such a reclassification would have eased the restrictions upon who
would have access to the documents following their release.
According to Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., a copy of the letter written
by Hughes requesting the release of the information was sent to the
State and Defense Department, who objected to the reclassification.
The Defense Department urged that the data, consisting of technical
descriptions of telemetry, tracking, satellite system engineering data,
spacecraft fuel and power allocations for the satellite, and reliability
analysis be required to have its own export license under the munitions
laws.
The requirement imposed tighter controls over the material, and also
required the drafting of a technology transfer plan to assure the
defense department that potentially sensitive satellite technology would
not be transferred to the Chinese and also imposing other monitoring and
restrictions over the information exchange.
As a result of Defense objections, the Commerce Department modified
the license for the data to place some information under the munitions
law requirement.
Republicans on Cochran’s Government Affairs Committee suggested today
that the Commerce Department’s attempted reclassification of the data
showed that it was more lax about exports of satellite and space
technology to China than the State Department.
The Clinton administration transferred jurisdiction over satellite
exports to Commerce from State in 1996, following a proposal made in the
last days of the Bush administration.
Frank W. Miller, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and
Commerce Under Secretary for Export Administration William Reinsch both
said today that the reclassification would not have resulted in any
greater risk of technology transfer to the Chinese.
Miller said, “The procedures that are now in place are adequate to
protect our national security.”
But Miller was forced to admit that a report on a Chinese space
launch accident investigation that occurred in 1995 wasn’t made
available to the Defense Department until today.
Miller said that the Defense Department wasn’t able to tell if any
sensitive information concerning the failure of the Chinese rocket
carrying the Hughes-made Apstar 1 was contained in the 1995 accident
analysis.
“This only reached my desk at noon today,” Miller added. The review
of the 1995 accident was conducted by Hughes engineers in response to a
satellite insurance industry request.
A Justice Department investigation is underway to review whether a
similar accident report by Loral Corp. on a February 1996 Chinese rocket
explosion passed sensitive rocket technology to the Chinese that might
have improved their ballistic missile programs.
— Copyright 1998 by United Press International. All rights reserved. —
