News


                            THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                   

________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                     March 10, 1994


                 STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY


     The President today announced that the Administration will 
allow for the expansion of the sale of images taken from space 
and the export of the systems themselves.  This decision is 
expected to expand American jobs and business opportunities by 
enabling U.S. firms to compete aggressively in the growing 
international market for remote sensing, which already accounts 
for nearly $400 million worldwide and is expected to grow to more 
than $2 billion by the turn of the century.  

     Under the policy, U.S. companies will be licensed by the 
Secretary of Commerce to operate private remote sensing systems 
and sell those images to domestic and foreign entities.  The 
export of turn-key remote sensing systems will also be considered 
under this policy on a case-by-case basis under an export license 
issued by the State Department.  National security and 
international obligations will be protected through specific 
licensing conditions.  Export of sensitive technologies will be 
considered on a restricted basis.

     Vice President Gore also highlighted the decision's 
importance to maintaining the competitiveness of America's 
aerospace industry. "Removing some of our barriers to the sale of 
space-based remote sensing systems and data products is a major 
contribution to the ability of U.S. industry, which sets the 
world standard for these systems, to compete successfully in this 
rapidly emerging global commercial market," he said.

     Equally important, the Vice President said, is the 
contribution which data from such satellites will make to our 
knowledge of the planet:  "Timely, high quality data which we 
expect to become available from these systems will include global 
change and environmental information which will form a vital part 
of this country's National Information Infrastructure."
 
     Space-based images and imaging systems are increasingly 
being recognized by commercial entities as a means of 
dramatically improving their productivity and business 
operations.  Farmers, city planners, environmentalists, news 
organizations, map makers, surveyors, geologists, mining 


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companies, oil companies, timber harvesters, taxing authorities, 
as well as foreign governments have all recognized the utility of 
high quality space-based images for purely commercial purposes.

     This new policy should also aid the U.S. defense industry in 
its efforts to find new commercial applications for defense 
technologies and enhance U.S. global competitiveness in the 
international remote sensing market.  Including the market for 
images incorporating demographic or technical data with digital 
maps, or geographic information systems, the market for space-
based imagery could be up to $15 billion by the year 2000.


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                         THE WHITE HOUSE

                  Office of the Press Secretary

_________________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release                              March 10, 1994


FACT SHEET 

FOREIGN ACCESS TO REMOTE SENSING SPACE CAPABILITIES  


Background

     Remote sensing from space provides scientific, industrial, 
civil governmental, military and individual users with the 
capacity to gather data for a variety of useful purposes.  The US 
Government operates very high resolution space-based 
reconnaissance systems for intelligence and military purposes.  
These systems are among the most valuable US national security 
assets because of their high quality data collection, timeliness, 
and coverage and the capability they provide to monitor events 
around the world on a near real-time basis.  More nations have 
discovered the value of these satellites and are developing their 
own indigenous capabilities, or are seeking the purchase of data 
or systems.  

Policy Goal

     The fundamental goal of our policy is to support and to 
enhance US industrial competitiveness in the field of remote 
sensing space capabilities while at the same time protecting US 
national security and foreign policy interests.  Success in this 
endeavor will contribute to maintaining our critical industrial 
base, advancing US technology, creating economic opportunities, 
strengthening the US balance of payments, enhancing national 
influence, and promoting regional stability.  

Scope of Policy

     The policy covers foreign access to remote sensing space 
systems, technology, products, and data.  With respect to 
commercial licenses, this would 
include operating licenses granted under the Land Remote Sensing 
Policy Act of 1992 and export licenses for certain items 
controlled on the US Munitions List (USML).   While the policy 
will define certain restrictions for export of items on the USML, 
export of items on either the USML or the Commerce Control List 
(CCL) would continue to be licensed in accord with existing law 
and regulations.  


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Licensing and Operation of Private Remote Sensing Systems

     License requests by US firms to operate private remote 
sensing space systems will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis in 
accordance with the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992 (the 
Act).  There is a presumption that remote sensing space systems 
whose performance capabilities and imagery quality 
characteristics are available or are planned for availability in 
the world marketplace (e.g., SPOT, Landsat, etc.) will be 
favorably considered, and that the following conditions will 
apply to any US entity that receives an operating license under 
the Act.  
 
     1.	  The licensee will be required to maintain a record of 
          all satellite tasking for the previous year and to 
          allow the USG access to this record.  

     2.	  The licensee will not change the operational 
          characteristics of the satellite system from the 
          application as submitted without formal notification 
          and approval of the Department of Commerce, which would 
          coordinate with other interested agencies.  

     3.	  The license being granted does not relieve the licensee 
          of the obligation to obtain export license(s) pursuant 
          to applicable statutes.  

     4.	  The license is valid only for a finite period, and is 
          neither transferable nor subject to foreign ownership, 
          above a specified threshold, without the explicit 
          permission of the Secretary of Commerce.  

     5.	  All encryption devices must be approved by the US 
          Government for the purpose of denying unauthorized 
          access to others during periods when national security, 
          international obligations and/or foreign policies may 
          be compromised as provided for in the Act.  

     6.	  A licensee must use a data downlink format that allows 
          the US Government access and use of the data during 
          periods when national security, international 
          obligations and/or foreign policies may be compromised 
          as provided for in the Act.  

     7.	  During periods when national security or international 
          obligations and/or foreign policies may be compromised, 
          as defined by the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary 
          of State, respectively, the Secretary of Commerce may, 
          after consultation with the appropriate agency(ies), 
          require the licensee to limit data collection and/or 
          distribution by the system to the extent necessitated 
          by the given situation.  Decisions to impose such 
          limits only will be made by the Secretary of Commerce 


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     	  in consultation with the Secretary of Defense or the 
          Secretary of State, as appropriate.  Disagreements 
          between Cabinet Secretaries may be appealed to the 
          President.  The Secretaries of State, Defense and 
          Commerce shall develop their own internal mechanisms to 
          enable them to carry out their statutory 
          responsibilities.  

     8.	  Pursuant to the Act, the US Government requires US 
          companies that have been issued operating licenses 
          under the Act to notify the US Government of its intent 
          to enter into significant or substantial agreements 
          with new foreign customers.  Interested agencies shall 
          be given advance notice of such agreements to allow 
          them the opportunity to review the proposed agreement 
          in light of the national security, international 
          obligations and foreign policy concerns of the US 
          Government.  The definition of a significant or 
          substantial agreement, as well as the time frames and 
          other details of this process, will be defined in later 
          Commerce regulations in consultation with appropriate 
          agencies.  

Transfer of Advanced Remote Sensing Capabilities

1.   Advanced Remote Sensing System Exports:  The United States 
     will consider requests to export advanced remote sensing 
     systems whose performance capabilities and imagery quality 
     characteristics are available or are planned for 
     availability in the world marketplace on a case-by-case 
     basis.  

     The details of these potential sales should take into 
     account the following:  

     	       the proposed foreign recipient's willingness and 
               ability to accept commitments to the US Government 
               concerning sharing, protection, and denial of 
               products and data; and

     	       constraints on resolution, geographic coverage, 
               timeliness, spectral coverage, data processing and 
               exploitation techniques, tasking capabilities, and 
               ground architectures.

     Approval of requests for exports of systems would also 
     require certain diplomatic steps be taken, such as informing 
     other close friends in the region of the request, and the 


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     conditions we would likely attach to any sale; and informing 
     the recipient of our decision and the conditions we would 
     require as part of the sale.  

     Any system made available to a foreign government or other 
     foreign entity may be subject to a formal government-to-
     government agreement.  

Transfer of Sensitive Technology

     The United States will consider applications to export 
sensitive components, subsystems, and information concerning 
remote sensing space capabilities on a restricted basis.  
Sensitive technology in this situation consists of items of 
technology on the US Munitions List necessary to develop or to 
support advanced remote sensing space capabilities and which are 
uniquely available in the United States.  Such sensitive 
technology shall be made available to foreign entities only on 
the basis of a government-to-government agreement.  This 
agreement may be in the form of end-use and retransfer assurances 
which can be tailored to ensure the protection of US technology.  
Government-to-Government Intelligence and Defense Partnerships

     Proposals for intelligence or defense partnerships with 
foreign countries regarding remote sensing that would raise 
questions about US Government competition with the private sector 
or would change the US Government's use of funds generated 
pursuant to a US-foreign government partnership arrangement shall 
be submitted for interagency review.  


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