Paper Session I-C - The International Threat to U.S. Commercial Launch Services

The U.S. commercial launch industry is just getting underway with its initial launches. A fair backlog of future launches has been developed. In head-to-head competition with Ariane, U.S. companies have been winning a fair ©hare of the contracts. However, it appears that this industry is in danger of becoming a convenient instrument of foreign policy in dealing with the non-market economy countries, China and USSR. In early 1989, the U.S. signed an agreement with the People\u27s Republic of China to allow export of a limited number of U.S. satellites for launch on the Long March vehicle. Thus far, the Chinese have given little indication of following the terms of the trade agreement in the pricing of their bids. The Soviet Union is busy marketing their launches world-wide at much lower prices than equivalent European or U.S. launch services. It is one of the few Soviet high tech products of interest to other countries. U.S. policy prohibits export of our satellites to the Soviet Union but will allow use of Soviet launches from one other site agreed to by both countries. If the U.S. industry cannot compete against China and the USSR and were to fold, U.S. commercial satellites would be completely dependent upon foreign means of transportation. Predatory prices of satellites would surely follow and the U.S. commercial satellite industry could also be forced out of business. The U.S. and the European Space Agency are conducting a series of negotiations to establish rules of the road for commercial launches for market economy countries with a plan to require all other countries to adhere to these rules if they are to have access to Western satellites. The latest status of this dilemma\u27s dangers and possible solutions are presented