Open Source Satellite Work Has Been Determined to be Free from ITAR
Channel: Open Research Institute Inc.
Date: 2020-10-15

Open Source Satellite Work Has Been Determined to be Free from ITAR

AMSAT Symposium 2020 Proceedings Paper: https://www.openresearch.institute/2020/10/15/amsat-symposium-2020-video-submission-and-paper/

Original Press Release: https://www.openresearch.institute/2020/08/18/cj-determination-open-source-satellite-work-is-free-of-itar/

The Final Determination letter, Commodity Jurisdiction cover letter, and the application itself can be found at:
https://github.com/phase4ground/documents/tree/master/Regulatory

The summary of the Commodity Jurisdiction request will eventually be published by the State Department at: 
https://www.pmddtc.state.gov/?id=ddtc_kb_article_page&sys_id=6ea6afdcdbc36300529d368d7c96194b

ORI’s developer and participant policies can be found here:
https://openresearch.institute/developer-and-participant-policies/

Open source tools and open source hardware should be used whenever possible. There must be a constant disciplined commitment to this as part of the practical approach to open source work. One of the most exciting areas of open source FGPA design right now is the emergence of a complete end-to-end open source toolchain for FPGA work. 

See Project IceStorm here:
https://github.com/YosysHQ/icestorm

With software, using a completely open source toolchain is much easier to accomplish than it is with hardware. The CERN open hardware license was designed to address this exact issue, and it does so firmly and well. 

Learn more about CERN open hardware license here:
https://www.ohwr.org/cernohl

This Final Determination is a landmark result in the commercial and industrial world as well as in amateur and academic circles. Goals for the amateur radio satellite service are the absolute minimum regulatory fear and risk for amateur volunteers, and a maximum amount of free and open international technical cooperation. 

Thank you! Contact ORI with questions about this Commodity Jurisdiction Request at ori@openresearch.instiute