(Bloomberg) -- The Biden administration moved to ease export restrictions on space-related products such as satellites and their components, a change that could make it easier for US aerospace companies to do business internationally.
The Commerce Department removed license requirements governing exports of certain spacecraft components and other space-related trade with allies, the department said on Thursday. A new proposal also seeks to shift oversight of some defense items from the State Department to the Commerce Department, such as spacecraft capable of refueling other spacecraft or avoiding collisions.
“As the diversity of commercial activity in space grows, these rules will reduce the burden for US industry to continue innovating and leading in the space sector,” Don Graves, the Commerce Department’s deputy secretary, said in a statement.
Currently, the State Department oversees exports of key defense-related technologies and information that could be turned into weapons by foreign adversaries. Many space-related items, such as rockets and satellites, are restricted because the technologies could also be used in advanced weapons such as ballistic missiles.
US companies have often complained that the restrictions make it more difficult to trade and access needed parts to build rockets and spacecraft.
The department said the changes will still keep critical technologies from reaching foreign adversaries while providing relief for companies to do trade with friendly countries more easily.
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