A tiny clause in a State Department regulation is creating havoc for university research into satellite-related technology.
A single sentence, contained in the International Traffic in Arms Regulations act, classifies all spacecraft and satellite-related data as "significant military equipment" subject to strict national security controls. As a result, universities are banned from sharing such technical information with foreign students, faculty, and collaborating researchers.
Top research institutions, such as Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, say the law is endangering the freedom of academic collaboration and the future of satellite research in the United States.
"They're killing space-based research," said Rachel Claus, defense counsel for the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. "A tremendous amount of our intellectual capital comes from abroad. If this situation continues, we will fall very far behind."
At risk are projects such as Stanford's Gravity Probe B, which aims to test Einstein's theory of relativity by launching a satellite containing a giant thermos into space. An Irish scientist, who developed the project's particle detector device, is not allowed to participate in its testing because of ITAR regulations.
"If the particle detector fails to work, it's a risk to the experiment we're building," said Francis Everitt, a lead researcher on the project.
Projects based on international collaboration are also in jeopardy. Senior scientist John Mester says ITAR has hampered his satellite equivalency project, which is funded jointly by NASA and the European Space Agency. Mester has not been allowed to give his European colleagues design drawings or have them look at the instrumentation.
"It's definitely affecting how much we've been able to get done," Mester said.
Universities owe their current problems to a 1999 defense bill which shifted jurisdiction for satellite technology from the Department of Commerce to the State Department. University research, previously subject to export regulations, now comes under ITAR, a law aimed at protecting military information.
As a result, any participation of foreign nationals requires an "export license" -- a special waiver issued by the State Department. The process can take up to six months.
Under the Commerce Department rules, academic research into satellite-related technology was granted a blanket waiver called the "fundamental research exclusion" rule.
"Fundamental research is basic research in science or engineering that is made broadly available to the public," Claus said. Since such information was considered to be part of the public domain and therefore not classified material, the Commerce Department did not require universities to apply for export licenses.
The shift to the State Department was accompanied by new language inserted into ITAR that classified all satellite-related research as military information.
So now any scientific research -- even if it's not directly created for use on a satellite -- becomes subject to ITAR if it ends up on one.
"If you put the same thing on top of a barn, it wouldn't be military information," Claus said. "The problem with this language is that it completely destroys the fundamental science exclusion."
The State Department says fundamental science is no longer treated as automatically exempt from export license requirements. "Even if they are in the public domain, it doesn't exempt them from review," a State Department spokesperson said. "It's prudent to be careful in matters that affect our national interest."
The change was prompted largely by revelations that companies such as Loral Space Communications and Hughes Electronics may have transferred sensitive satellite technology to China. And the alleged spying incident at Los Alamos laboratory, involving Chinese-born scientist Wen Ho Li, added to fears over national security.
"Every congressman wanted to be seen as fighting the enemy," Claus said. "But they were probably not even thinking of universities. It wasn't on anyone's radar."
The predicament of universities is particularly ironic since most have rules preventing employees from working on classified or sensitive projects.
The tradition of academic research relies heavily on peer review and collaboration, and institutions shy away from projects that require secrecy. "What makes the university a powerhouse in terms of research is its open environment," said Robert Shelton, vice-provost of the University of California System. "You don't have to worry about the nationality of a person when you're discussing ideas."
Shelton says the new regulations have forced many UC campuses to turn down corporate funding. The State Department now asks companies to provide detailed information, including the nationality, of everyone working on a satellite project.
"We usually explain to the contractor that we can't comply with their requirements," Shelton said. "We can't divide work in terms of nationalities."
For the most part, researchers say the new cloak-and-dagger rules are just plain silly, especially since most of the information they work with is already out there.
"The idea is that they're going to take back to the country what's already available on the Web," Claus said. She says universities do not work on high-end military satellite technology. "These are mules, drones, dumb machines," she said. "Anyone with access to publicly available information could build one."
They often bar scientists from seeing their own research. In the case of the Gravity Probe, Everitt says it is nonsensical to exclude the Irish researcher on the grounds that he may get access to information about a device that he created.
"It's crazy. We're going to publish the results, but we can't share the information with our European colleagues," Mester said.
But there seems little chance the situation will change in the short run. Scientists say the State Department has been highly unresponsive to their demand to restore the exempt status of fundamental research.
The department issued a ruling Friday making it easier for companies to sell satellite parts to NATO and non-NATO allies. But it will have little effect on academic research.
University officials say if the situation continues unchanged, they may have to get out of satellite research entirely. For some scientists, it may spell the end of their career as an academic researcher.
"I guess I'd just go out an get a real job," Mester said. "I'm here to do pure science. If I can't do that. It's the end of my career."
