Seeing America as using national security concerns to cloak protectionist tendencies isn't just the Chinese view of the U.S., van Fenema says. Those tighter regulations and restrictions are virtually choking U.S. commercial space, van Fenema suggests, in the reverse effect of what was intended. And while recent congressional action has been taken to lessen the effects of last year's reaction to the export issue, he suggests that the reasons are frivolous. If that is really true, van Fenema says, then the U.S. should terminate launch quotas and price controls now imposed on Chinese, Russian and Ukrainian rocketmakers through bilateral trade agreements. The three sets of agreements that govern what U.S.-made space hardware can be launched on these foreign boosters begin to expire this December.
Customers insist on reliable, flexible and affordable launch services.
The price for a boost to space won't likely drop substantially until space tourism begins to flourish, van Fenema believes. That translates into sharing of safety-related data, development of safe and reliable engines for rockets and a more open, competitive policy environment. That will require the U.S. to distinguish between real security issues and free and fair trade principles.