AIA Supports the Nat'l Defense Authorization Act

The Aerospace Industries Association is supporting the efforts in Congress to pass the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes provisions that would give the president authority to determine export control requirements for commercial satellites.

In a statement, the association calls current regulations "draconian," saying the "military-level" export controls have devastated the U.S. space industry.

“Even if you don’t factor in the threat of sequestration, our space industrial base faces an immediate 22% reduction in the national security space budget next year,” says Marion C. Blakey, AIA president and CEO. “Ending this self-imposed burden on U.S. competitiveness in the global commercial satellite marketplace is critical to our national security and to ensuring the U.S. space industrial base stays second to none.”

A report from the association estimates that manufacturers in the United States have lost $21 billion in satellite revenue over 10 years, costing about 9,000 direct jobs annually.

"These companies, many of them small- and medium-sized enterprises, can only remain in business and sustain our country’s technological edge in space by accessing legitimate commercial markets," the AIA says in a statement.