Thales Alenia Space: U.S. Suppliers at Fault in 'ITAR-free' Misnomer

摘要

French-Italian satellite builder Thales Alenia Space on Aug. 9 said that for the last 12 years its U.S. suppliers had mislabeled their components as "commercial" or "dual use" when in fact they were subject to defense-export controls known as ITAR. In a statement, Cannes, France-based Thales Alenia Space appears to abandon a position it has taken for years, that the U.S. State Department has played mix-and-match with its satellite-export rules by adding banal components to the Munitions List list in an attempt to stop the satellite builder from selling satellites to China. Items on the Munitions List, a registry of militarily sensitive technology, are subject to strict International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) export rules.