BELTSVILLE, Md. — ATK [ATK] is looking to take advantage of reformed export control laws to regain satellite components market share.
“We export a lot of our components and, hopefully, with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) rules being reformed, we’ll be able to export more in the coming years,” ATK Vice President of Strategy and Business Development for Space Systems Division Jim Armor told Defense Daily Jan. 23. Armor said ATK has a long history of producing satellite components and parts as well as systems and discipline engineering.
Armor said ATK was hurt when the United States moved satellites and related components to the strict State Department U.S. Munitions List from the less-stringent Commerce Department Commerce Control List (CCL). The fiscal year 1999 National Defense Authorization Act placed all satellite technologies on the USML, which severely restricted the transfer of commercial satellite technology and information abroad, even to allies (Defense Daily, Jan. 26, 2012).
“We had about 80 percent of the component business globally,” Armor said. “It dropped to about 20 percent over the last decade. We got killed, just killed, and it wasn’t just ATK, a lot of U.S. space-related businesses were just pummeled.”
The FY ’13 NDAA signed into law in December allows satellites and related items to be transferred back to the CCL. The NDAA still requires the president to submit reports to Congress for any item removed from the USML (Defense Daily, Dec. 20).
Armor said when the stricter export control laws took effect ATK lost market share to companies in Europe, China, Japan and India. But now that the laws are becoming more favorable to U.S. satellite, and satellite component, exporters, Armor said ATK is ready to fight to get back where it once was.
“Now that the ITAR rules have been reformed…We are in a much better position to go out to these trade shows and work with our longstanding customers…and offer them our parts, components and engineering services,” Armor said. “We’re confident we can compete.”
Marco Caceres, senior analyst and space studies director for the Teal Group in Fairfax, Va., told Defense Daily Friday the reformed export control laws would be a win-win for ATK and all other U.S. satellite manufacturers.
“I think, overall, the change in ITAR policy to allow oversight of space technology exports to go from State Department back to Commerce (Department) is a good thing for any U.S. manufacturer of satellites or satellite componentry,” Caceres said. “It just makes it easier to sell to the Europeans and other countries.”
Armor warned that regaining lost market share would not be easy, nor would it happen quickly. Armor estimated it would be about nine to 18 months before the gears of government processed the reformed laws and allowed companies to take advantage of them.
But Armor didn’t let that prevent him from expressing his excitement for ATK’s future.
“We know we’re really good at what we do,” Armor said. “We know we can compete price-wise and performance-wise, so we’re anxious.”