China Eyes Purchase of Sea Launch Ship and Launch Platform

摘要

Struggling commercial launch service provider Sea Launch AG and its owner, Energia of Russia, are in talks with the Chinese government on selling the Sea Launch command ship and launch platform to Chinese interests that would station the system in international waters off China, industry officials said. A sale to China would need to traverse a minefield of regulatory and political issues in Russia, China and the United States. Sea Launch is headquartered in Bern, Switzerland, but its home port is Long Beach, California. The Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket is built by state-owned Ukrainian and Russian manufacturers, with Boeing acting as the company's original prime contractor. Sorting out the effects of U.S. technology transfer restrictions relating to satellite and rocket hardware - the International Traffic in Arms (ITAR) regime - would be complicated, officials said.