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US policy may deter India`s growth in satellite-launch market

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

New Delhi, June 23, IRNA -- Nations wanting to take advantage of 
up to 30 percent cheaper satellite launches by the Indian Space 
Research Organization (ISRO) were unlikely to be allowed to do so if 
they had either bought US-made satellites or satellites that had 
US-made components, the local media reported here Wednesday. 
This was the import of remarks made by US Undersecretary of 
Commerce Kenneth I. Juster at a press meet in Bangalore, in the 
southern Indian state of Karnataka, on Tuesday. 
Declining to make an India-specific statement, Juster said 
parties buying US-made satellites would in general not be allowed to 
get them launched by countries such as India. 
"But we would look at them on a case-by-case basis." 
So, India, a third party, was unlikely to make headway in this 
market, dominated by the US, western Europe and Russia. 
The US official is participating in the five-day "India-U.S. 
Conference on Space Science, Applications and Commerce," which started
in Bangalore on Monday. 
On Tuesday, at the plenary opening of the conference, Indian 
Space Research Organization (ISRO) Chairman G. Madhavan Nair said: 
"We have the capability to launch medium-weight satellites on our 
Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicles into low earth and geo- 
transfer orbits. There are some enquiries on hand. Our launch costs 
are between 70 percent and 80 percent of international launch 
costs." 
But ISRO officials have said at least two potential deals for 
such launches have been lost because of US export policies on 
satellite systems and components. 
While Juster said exports of "dual use" technology were being 
cleared with exceptions, even to ISRO, Indian officials said that 
there had been no significant change. 
On export application, Juster said his department had approved 
up to 90 percent of export applications from US firms dealing in 
high technology. 
But Indian officials pointed out that several technologies 
required "inter-departmental clearances" and "if vital components are 
clubbed under that 10 percent that was denied, we are back where we 
were." 
On the other hand, there were several high technologies that did 
not require licenses for export, Juster pointed out. 
In the last two years, the value of such exports, the applications
for which were "returned with no action (as they didn`t require 
licences anymore)," had dropped from $ 535million to about $5 
million. This meant that "exporters were getting the word that 
sanctions had been lifted," he said. 
From fiscal 2002 to the first half of fiscal 2004, US exports of 
"dual use" technology to India had increased from $27 million to $51 
million. The latter figure represented an 80 percent annualized 
growth over fiscal 2003, he said. 
There were "two entities and 14 subordinate entities" on the 
"entities list," which listed out organizations and firms in India 
to which US exports of "dual use" technology was either denied or 
stringently regulated. More recently, exports of high technology 
were allowed to some of these entities, too, Juster said. 
Juster, who delivered the keynote address at the plenary opening, 
said: "Our Government recently approved a license authorizing Boeing 
Satellite Systems to engage in discussions and share data with ISRO 
on the division of responsibilities for possible joint cooperation 
in the development and marketing of communication satellites." 
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