The Honorable Jeff Bingaman United States Senate Washington, DC 20510-3102
Dear Senator Bingaman:
Like many other universities performing aerospace, astrophysics, and other space-based research, Stanford University has been struggling to continue its work in light of last year's transfer to the State Department of export licensing authority for satellites and related items. Placing technical data pertaining to satellites under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR) has caused considerable confusion within government agencies and contractors with whom universities work and has undermined the fundamental research exception which historically has permitted university to conduct space-related research without need for government license.
We appreciate the interest you have shown in how research universities such as Stanford are affected by this shift in licensing authority, and we welcome this opportunity to provide you with a few real-life examples. Our campus newspaper just yesterday published a feature story on this topic. The article's first paragraph quickly summarizes the way in which ITAR is affecting basic research at Stanford and elsewhere. Just one sentence. That was all it took to ban a Stanford graduate student, who is Chinese, from continuing his work with basic spacecraft control algorithms. It was enough to prevent the world's expert in proton monitors, who is Irish, from being in the same room as the equipment he designed when American researchers bolted it onto a satellite. It prevented the signing of a contract that would allow Japanese, Stanford and Lockheed researchers to collaborate in studying the sun. One sentence was all it took to place satellite programs in holding patterns at universities including Stanford, Caltech, Penn State, MIT and the Universities of California, Arizona and Colorado.
Here are five more situations, each an example of ITAR's unintended consequences for basic research at Stanford. A Chinese national postdoctoral researcher wrote software for a long-standing NASA basic physics project at Stanford known as "Gravity Probe-B," which ultimately will require the placing of data-gathering scientific instruments in orbit on a satellite. This satellite is not, itself, a military state-of-the-art spacecraft; it is not intended for and could not be put to military use; all of the information and technology surrounding the scientific equipment is in the public domain. The purpose of this experiment is to test Einstein's general theory of relativity. The researcher sent his software to NASA for their review. NASA stamped the report and the software "ITAR-controlled" and insisted that the individual who wrote it now needs an export license to review it. Gravity Probe B also provides another example of how ITAR has complicated fundamental research. The test of Einstein's theory relies on unique gyroscopes, designed for a space-based research environment. NASA characterized these gyroscopes as "sensitive military equipment," even though they pose no practical military threat and would be almost impossible to reproduce. As a result, foreign nationals may have to be excluded from activities in which they might simply see these gyroscopes (thus creating a "deemed export" requiring an export license). One of our doctoral students built a small satellite as his thesis project, using technology in the public domain and parts purchased at a local commercial electronics shop. Unable to obtain launch space with a private company or on a NASA vehicle, the student enterprisingly looked for another provider. Ultimately, the Baumann Space Center at the University of Moscow offered to let the student put his satellite on their rocket launch without charge. However, ITAR as presently worded appears to preclude this type of cooperation, notwithstanding the fact that the satellite is neither suitable nor intended for any military use. This student has not yet secured a launch and therefore cannot test his project. It would cost the university $500,000 to $2,000,000 to secure a private launch for the satellite. Stanford is in the process of forming a joint research project on a "Laser Interferrometric Space Antenna" (LISA) program. Similar to Gravity Probe-B, this experiment will study the fundamental nature of gravity. It will use non-military laser technology on three satellites, planned for launch in the next decade. A critical "inertial sensor" is at the heart of the LISA science mission. NASA asserts that this sensor is subject to ITAR and that European Space Agency (ESA) scientists may not participate in the proposed mission. NASA will only consider the proposal if it is revised to exclude European participation, even though ESA technology is crucial to the mission. A Turkish national graduate student has developed a new hybrid rocket fuel that we are in the process of patenting. United Technologies (UTC) read the student's work and wanted to fund further testing of the fuel, but insisted that they could not discuss the student's concept with the student unless Stanford obtained an export license under ITAR.
This list is incomplete, but hopefully it illustrates what I believe to be an unintended consequence of last year's transfer of export licensing authority for satellites and related items, including technical data, from the Department of Commerce to the Department of State. Thank you for your interest.
	Sincerely, Charles Kruger Vice Provost Dean of Research and Graduate Policy