The rule that follows the part
The Space Law track explains ITAR and the EAR from the operator's side. This lesson is about what they do to your suppliers, engineers, and purchase orders — because export control attaches to the hardware and the technical data, and it flows down the chain with them.
The two US regimes in one paragraph each
ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations, State Department/DDTC) covers items on the US Munitions List. Category XV is spacecraft and related articles: many satellite buses, certain components, and — critically — the technical data about them. An ITAR item cannot be exported, and its technical data cannot be shared with a foreign person, without a licence or agreement.
EAR (Export Administration Regulations, Commerce/BIS) covers dual-use items, with the "500-series" ECCNs (9A515, 9E515…) created in 2014 when most commercial satellites moved off the USML. Licences are often easier and many exports to allied countries are permitted under licence exceptions — but "easier" is not "none", and China, Russia and embargoed destinations are effectively closed.
Other countries have their own regimes (the EU dual-use regulation, the UK Export Control Order, Japan's FEFTA); a European supplier's part may carry their restrictions into your spacecraft.
Where it bites in procurement
- Deemed exports. Showing a controlled drawing to a foreign-national engineer inside the US is an export. Hiring, subcontracting and even vendor site visits need clearance.
- Flow-down. When you buy a controlled part, you inherit its restrictions and must impose them on anyone downstream — integrators, test houses, launch providers.
- Launch abroad. Putting a US-built satellite on a non-US launcher is an export of the satellite. Technical Assistance Agreements for launch integration take months.
- Data rooms and cloud. Controlled technical data on a server accessible from abroad can be an export. Cloud regions and access controls are compliance decisions.
- Marking and records. Every controlled document must be marked; every export authorised and recorded, for five years.
Practical programme hygiene
- Classify early. Determine the jurisdiction (ITAR vs. EAR) and classification (USML category or ECCN) of every major subsystem before you buy it. Ask the vendor — they are obliged to know.
- Track nationality of everyone who touches controlled data, including contractors and interns.
- Assume a launch or customer abroad and start the licence clock when the design freezes, not when the ship date approaches.
- Design for exportability where you can: choosing an EAR-controlled bus over an ITAR one can open markets and shorten every licence you ever file.
The penalties are real — fines in the millions, debarment, and, for wilful violations, prison. But most trouble comes from ignorance rather than malice: a drawing emailed to the wrong subcontractor, a demo to a visiting delegation. Process prevents it. SpaceNexus keeps an Export Compliance Q&A and an Export Control Watch for the current state of the rules.