Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06ROME1585
2006-05-24 11:56:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Rome
Cable title:
GOI INQUIRY REGARDING ITALIAN SATELLITE LAUNCH
how-toVZCZCXYZ0001 PP RUEHWEB DE RUEHRO #1585/01 1441156 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 241156Z MAY 06 FM AMEMBASSY ROME TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4898 INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 0704 RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 2010 RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY RUEANAT/NASA WASHDC
UNCLAS ROME 001585
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR ISN/CATR, PM/DDTC, EUR/WE, SCA, OES/SAT, PARIS
FOR NASA REP, PLEASE PASS TO USTR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETTC TSPA KFPC ETRD IT IN
SUBJECT: GOI INQUIRY REGARDING ITALIAN SATELLITE LAUNCH
FROM INDIA
REF: A. KESSLER-BYRNES MAY 11
B. 2006 E-MAIL AND PREVIOUS
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION
UNCLAS ROME 001585
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR ISN/CATR, PM/DDTC, EUR/WE, SCA, OES/SAT, PARIS
FOR NASA REP, PLEASE PASS TO USTR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETTC TSPA KFPC ETRD IT IN
SUBJECT: GOI INQUIRY REGARDING ITALIAN SATELLITE LAUNCH
FROM INDIA
REF: A. KESSLER-BYRNES MAY 11
B. 2006 E-MAIL AND PREVIOUS
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION
1. (SBU) SUMMARY AND ACTION REQUEST: Embassy requests
Department assistance to follow up on several pending export
license requests for U.S.-origin components for the Italian
Space Agency's (ASI) AGILE scientific satellite mission,
which ASI would like to launch from India in October. The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned us in April (Ref E-mails)
that if by the end of May it is not clear that the licenses
will be granted, ASI is prepared to purchase the needed
components from non-U.S. manufacturers to enable ASI to
launch from India by January 2007. We note that NASA
announced May 9 that the U.S. Space Agency plans to launch
scientific payloads on India's Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter in
late 2007 or early 2008 as part of the President's Vision for
Space Exploration.
2. (SBU) ASI has been a trusted partner for 40 years, and
U.S.-Italy space cooperation is ongoing. While the value of
the U.S. components in the AGILE satellite may be not be very
great, we do not want to prejudice U.S. industry's access to
Italy's nine billion euro aerospace and defense market.
Background on the primary contractor for the satellite, Carlo
Gavazzi Space S.p.A., and on the AGILE mission is in
paragraphs 8 and 9. ACTION REQUEST: Please see paragraph 7.
END SUMMARY.
ITALIAN SPACE AGENCY (ASI) DECEMBER 2005 INQUIRY
-------------- ---
3. (SBU) Last December, the Italian Space Agency publicly
announced that AGILE would launch January 26, 2006 from
India. Also in December, ASI inquired about several export
license applications pending with the Departments of State
and Commerce. A list of application numbers, components, and
U.S. suppliers is included in paragraph 10. In January,
following E-mail consultation with the Department of State,
Emboffs informed ASI that U.S. export control policy did
not/not allow for U.S.-origin components to be used in
satellite equipment launched from India. We also informed
ASI that the U.S. had begun negotiations on two U.S.-India
bilateral agreements (a Technology Safeguards Agreement and a
Commercial Space Launch Agreement) that must be in place in
order for U.S. policy to change and to allow the AGILE
satellite to be launched from India. At that time, we also
noted that in order for the contractor Carlo Gavazzi to
transfer the satellite, the company would have to make
comprehensive requests to the Departments of State and
Commerce for authorization to re-export each U.S.-origin
components.
APRIL MFA INQUIRY: SERIOUS THREAT TO REPLACE U.S. ITEMS
-------------- --------------
4. (SBU) In mid-April, Gianni Manfredi, the Office Director
responsible for space cooperation at MFA's Directorate for
Multilateral Economic and Financial Cooperation inquired
about the status of the pending licenses. He explained that
ASI wanted to reschedule the launch for October 2006, and
needed to know by the end of May whether export licenses for
five U.S.-origin components could be approved by then.
Manfredi informed SCIoff that if Carlo Gavazzi Space (the
main contractor, see background in paragraph 8) or ASI did
not hear positively by that time, ASI was prepared to replace
the equipment with components manufactured outside the U.S.
Our main contact from ASI's bilateral and international
department confirmed that ASI would acquire components
elsewhere. At the roll-out of the Italian National Space
Plan for 2006-2008 this spring, ASI President Prof. Sergio
Vetrella confirmed that ASI plans to launch AGILE this year.
COMMENT: Based on these public statements, and the fact that
ASI has upped the ante by involving the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs in the matter, we believe the Space Agency is serious
about replacing U.S.-manufactured equipment with non-U.S.
origin components in time for launch NLT January 2007. From
what we understand, ASI has not considered launching from
another venue permissible under U.S. export control
regulations. END COMMENT.
U.S. COMPANIES/EQUITIES AND POSSIBLE LONG-TERM EFFECTS
-------------- --------------
5. (U) To the best of our knowledge, the U.S. suppliers for
AGILE are: Eagle-Picher Technologies, Goodrich Corporation,
AEROFLEX (Formerly UTMC),BAE Federal Systems, Honeywell, and
International Rectifier. We have no information on the
retail value of any of the equipment supplied to Carlo
Gavazzi and subcontractor Alcatel Alenia Spazio, except for
the reaction wheel assembly manufactured by Goodrich (USD
155,000). While the total value of U.S. equipment for AGILE
is relatively small, the aerospace and defense industry in
Italy represents a potential nine billion euro market for
American manufacturers. This market could be jeopardized if
ASI (USD 700 million dollar budget in 2005) and Italian
aerospace companies decide it is more predictable to purchase
non-U.S. components in order to have the flexibility to
launch on a timely basis from India.
NASA MAY 9 ANNOUNCEMENT: INDIA LAUNCH PLANNED
-------------- -
6. (SBU) NASA announced on May 9 that as part of the
President's Vision for Space Exploration, the U.S. Space
Agency will include two U.S. scientific payloads on India's
lunar orbiter, Chandrayaan-1, expected to launch in late 2007
or early 2008. We anticipate that the MFA and ASI will
request a detailed explanation of U.S. policies if
regulations woulQnot allow U.S.-origin equipment on an
Italian satellite controlled by the GOI, but launched by
India, while they would permit U.S. instruments to be
exported and used in an Indian-assembled space vehicle. For
the record, ASI has assured us that the AGILE satellite would
be shipped to India under guard and would always remain under
the control of an ASI team on the ground in India, where no
one else (including the Indians) would have access to it
before launch. Professor Vetrella, President of ASI, also
confirmed that the GOI would officially guarantee that only
ASI would have access to AGILE in India.
ACTION REQUEST
--------------
7. (U) Embassy would appreciate Department's assistance to
provide points for our reply to the MFA's and ASI's
inquiries. Will U.S. authorities be able to approve export
control licenses for the U.S.-origin equipment for the AGILE
satellite by the end of May, or within a timeframe that would
allow for assembly and launch of AGILE from India by October,
2006?
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: CARLO GAVAZZI SPACE S.P.A.
-------------- --------------
8. (U) Carlo Gavazzi is one of the leading medium-sized
privately owned European aerospace and telematics companies.
Founded in 1981 and owned 100 percent by the German Fuchs
family (Prof. Manfred Fuchs - President; Dr. Marco Fuchs -
Vice President),the company is headquartered in Milan, with
branches and a research laboratory in five other central and
northern Italian locations. Gavazzi employs 180 engineers
and physicists and claims share capital worth 2.4 million
euro. The company is one of 40 manufacturing the
recently-completed European Space Agency Columbus Module for
the NASA-led International Space Station (ISS). Gavazzi
provides facilities and payloads for experiments in
microgravity conditions for all Columbus internal
laboratories and for many experiments carried out on the
external platforms of the ISS, including the Remote Power
Distribution Assembly on ISS's American laboratory. The
company also produced the overall thermal control system of
NASA's Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer. Carlo Gavazzi has also
contributed to ASI's Unmanned Space Vehicle (USV),unveiled
in May and scheduled for its first test flight between June
and August this year. The USV is Italy's candidate to lead
the European Space Agency's effort to develop a
next-generation launch system to replace the Ariane 5 booster.
AGILE - AN ITALIAN NATIONAL SCIENTIFIC MISSION
-------------- -
9. (U) AGILE is an Italian Space Agency two-year scientific
mission, the only European mission entirely devoted to
high-energy astrophysics. The 350-kilogram mini-satellite
will be placed in an equatorial orbit 550 kilometers above
the earth to detect hard X-rays and gamma ray bursts. This
mission will acquire information on black holes, supernovae,
neutron stars, and yet-to-be-identified sources of gamma
rays. ASI planned to launch the satellite from the Satish
Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India. This launch site
was selected for cost reasons. Neither the U.S. nor the
European Space Agency is participating in AGILE.
STATUS OF U.S.-ORIGIN COMPONENTS IN AGILE SATELLITE
-------------- --------------
10. (U) Below is the most complete list we have of
U.S.-origin components in the AGILE, furnished by Carlo
Gavazzi Space.
-- DTC Case GC 0847-05 (nickel-hydrogen battery): On August
9, 2005 submitted license variation for Siriharihota, India
launch site; end user ASI.
-- DTC Case 862652, 9007988 (nickel-hydrogen battery):
Manufacturer: Eagle-Picher Technologies; End User: Carlo
Gavazzi Space S.p.A. (launch site listed as USA (Vandenberg).
(See license variation GC 0847-05).
-- DTC Case 931427 (reaction wheel assembly) or case
TA-1177-03): Exporter: Goodrich Corporation; End User:
Carlo Gavazzi Space S.p.A. Total value stated on license:
USD 155,000.
-- DTC Case GC 0221-06 (GPS Receiver Component Rad-Hard IC
(CAUGG ASIC) and GSP Receiver Component Single Chip Processor
(RAD60006C) CMOS Static RAM (SRAM): License variation
submitted on February 21, 2006; Requested End User: ASI;
Requested Launch Site: Siriharihota, India.
-- DTC Case 706176 (GPS Receiver Component Rad-Hard IC
(GAUSS ASIC): Manufacturer: AEROFLEX (Formerly UTMC). End
User: Laben S.p.A. Final Destination: Milan, Italy. (See
License Variation Request GC 0221-06).
-- DTC Case 709454 (GPS Receiver Component Single Chip
Processor (RAD60006C) CMOS Static RAM (SRAM). Manufacturer:
BAE Federal Systems. End User: LABEN S.p.A. Final
Destination: Milan, Italy. (See License Variation Request
GC 0221-06).
-- DTC Case GC 0324-06 (Payload Component Rad-Hard 32K RAM):
License Variation submitted in February, 2006. Requested
end user: ASI. Requested launch site: Siriharihota, India.
-- DTC Case 675615 (Payload Component Rad-Hard 32K RAM):
Manufacturer: Honeywell. End user: Laben S.p.A. Final
Destination or Launch site: USA (Vandenberg). (See License
Variation Request GC 0324-06).
-- DTC Case 956359 (Magnetometer): Manufacturer: SAIC. End
user: ASI. Launch destination: India. NOTE: Carlo
Gavazzi Space informed Embassy that it has decided to switch
to a different manufacturer for the magnetometer procurement.
The SAIC magnetometer will not be used for the AGILE
satellite.
-- Case number unknown: MOSFETs (Metal-oxide semiconductor
field effect transistors). Manufacturer: International
Rectifier; Supplier: Consystem. License was approved, per
ASI.
COMMENT:
--------------
11. (SBU) The Embassy urges the Department and Department
of Commerce to expedite the review of this request given the
negative press we could receive by a continued delay. While
we hope that Italy qualifies for the requested permits, at
this point a quick no would be preferable to an uncertain,
drawn out review process. End Comment.
SPOGLI
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR ISN/CATR, PM/DDTC, EUR/WE, SCA, OES/SAT, PARIS
FOR NASA REP, PLEASE PASS TO USTR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETTC TSPA KFPC ETRD IT IN
SUBJECT: GOI INQUIRY REGARDING ITALIAN SATELLITE LAUNCH
FROM INDIA
REF: A. KESSLER-BYRNES MAY 11
B. 2006 E-MAIL AND PREVIOUS
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION
1. (SBU) SUMMARY AND ACTION REQUEST: Embassy requests
Department assistance to follow up on several pending export
license requests for U.S.-origin components for the Italian
Space Agency's (ASI) AGILE scientific satellite mission,
which ASI would like to launch from India in October. The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned us in April (Ref E-mails)
that if by the end of May it is not clear that the licenses
will be granted, ASI is prepared to purchase the needed
components from non-U.S. manufacturers to enable ASI to
launch from India by January 2007. We note that NASA
announced May 9 that the U.S. Space Agency plans to launch
scientific payloads on India's Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter in
late 2007 or early 2008 as part of the President's Vision for
Space Exploration.
2. (SBU) ASI has been a trusted partner for 40 years, and
U.S.-Italy space cooperation is ongoing. While the value of
the U.S. components in the AGILE satellite may be not be very
great, we do not want to prejudice U.S. industry's access to
Italy's nine billion euro aerospace and defense market.
Background on the primary contractor for the satellite, Carlo
Gavazzi Space S.p.A., and on the AGILE mission is in
paragraphs 8 and 9. ACTION REQUEST: Please see paragraph 7.
END SUMMARY.
ITALIAN SPACE AGENCY (ASI) DECEMBER 2005 INQUIRY
-------------- ---
3. (SBU) Last December, the Italian Space Agency publicly
announced that AGILE would launch January 26, 2006 from
India. Also in December, ASI inquired about several export
license applications pending with the Departments of State
and Commerce. A list of application numbers, components, and
U.S. suppliers is included in paragraph 10. In January,
following E-mail consultation with the Department of State,
Emboffs informed ASI that U.S. export control policy did
not/not allow for U.S.-origin components to be used in
satellite equipment launched from India. We also informed
ASI that the U.S. had begun negotiations on two U.S.-India
bilateral agreements (a Technology Safeguards Agreement and a
Commercial Space Launch Agreement) that must be in place in
order for U.S. policy to change and to allow the AGILE
satellite to be launched from India. At that time, we also
noted that in order for the contractor Carlo Gavazzi to
transfer the satellite, the company would have to make
comprehensive requests to the Departments of State and
Commerce for authorization to re-export each U.S.-origin
components.
APRIL MFA INQUIRY: SERIOUS THREAT TO REPLACE U.S. ITEMS
-------------- --------------
4. (SBU) In mid-April, Gianni Manfredi, the Office Director
responsible for space cooperation at MFA's Directorate for
Multilateral Economic and Financial Cooperation inquired
about the status of the pending licenses. He explained that
ASI wanted to reschedule the launch for October 2006, and
needed to know by the end of May whether export licenses for
five U.S.-origin components could be approved by then.
Manfredi informed SCIoff that if Carlo Gavazzi Space (the
main contractor, see background in paragraph 8) or ASI did
not hear positively by that time, ASI was prepared to replace
the equipment with components manufactured outside the U.S.
Our main contact from ASI's bilateral and international
department confirmed that ASI would acquire components
elsewhere. At the roll-out of the Italian National Space
Plan for 2006-2008 this spring, ASI President Prof. Sergio
Vetrella confirmed that ASI plans to launch AGILE this year.
COMMENT: Based on these public statements, and the fact that
ASI has upped the ante by involving the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs in the matter, we believe the Space Agency is serious
about replacing U.S.-manufactured equipment with non-U.S.
origin components in time for launch NLT January 2007. From
what we understand, ASI has not considered launching from
another venue permissible under U.S. export control
regulations. END COMMENT.
U.S. COMPANIES/EQUITIES AND POSSIBLE LONG-TERM EFFECTS
-------------- --------------
5. (U) To the best of our knowledge, the U.S. suppliers for
AGILE are: Eagle-Picher Technologies, Goodrich Corporation,
AEROFLEX (Formerly UTMC),BAE Federal Systems, Honeywell, and
International Rectifier. We have no information on the
retail value of any of the equipment supplied to Carlo
Gavazzi and subcontractor Alcatel Alenia Spazio, except for
the reaction wheel assembly manufactured by Goodrich (USD
155,000). While the total value of U.S. equipment for AGILE
is relatively small, the aerospace and defense industry in
Italy represents a potential nine billion euro market for
American manufacturers. This market could be jeopardized if
ASI (USD 700 million dollar budget in 2005) and Italian
aerospace companies decide it is more predictable to purchase
non-U.S. components in order to have the flexibility to
launch on a timely basis from India.
NASA MAY 9 ANNOUNCEMENT: INDIA LAUNCH PLANNED
-------------- -
6. (SBU) NASA announced on May 9 that as part of the
President's Vision for Space Exploration, the U.S. Space
Agency will include two U.S. scientific payloads on India's
lunar orbiter, Chandrayaan-1, expected to launch in late 2007
or early 2008. We anticipate that the MFA and ASI will
request a detailed explanation of U.S. policies if
regulations woulQnot allow U.S.-origin equipment on an
Italian satellite controlled by the GOI, but launched by
India, while they would permit U.S. instruments to be
exported and used in an Indian-assembled space vehicle. For
the record, ASI has assured us that the AGILE satellite would
be shipped to India under guard and would always remain under
the control of an ASI team on the ground in India, where no
one else (including the Indians) would have access to it
before launch. Professor Vetrella, President of ASI, also
confirmed that the GOI would officially guarantee that only
ASI would have access to AGILE in India.
ACTION REQUEST
--------------
7. (U) Embassy would appreciate Department's assistance to
provide points for our reply to the MFA's and ASI's
inquiries. Will U.S. authorities be able to approve export
control licenses for the U.S.-origin equipment for the AGILE
satellite by the end of May, or within a timeframe that would
allow for assembly and launch of AGILE from India by October,
2006?
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: CARLO GAVAZZI SPACE S.P.A.
-------------- --------------
8. (U) Carlo Gavazzi is one of the leading medium-sized
privately owned European aerospace and telematics companies.
Founded in 1981 and owned 100 percent by the German Fuchs
family (Prof. Manfred Fuchs - President; Dr. Marco Fuchs -
Vice President),the company is headquartered in Milan, with
branches and a research laboratory in five other central and
northern Italian locations. Gavazzi employs 180 engineers
and physicists and claims share capital worth 2.4 million
euro. The company is one of 40 manufacturing the
recently-completed European Space Agency Columbus Module for
the NASA-led International Space Station (ISS). Gavazzi
provides facilities and payloads for experiments in
microgravity conditions for all Columbus internal
laboratories and for many experiments carried out on the
external platforms of the ISS, including the Remote Power
Distribution Assembly on ISS's American laboratory. The
company also produced the overall thermal control system of
NASA's Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer. Carlo Gavazzi has also
contributed to ASI's Unmanned Space Vehicle (USV),unveiled
in May and scheduled for its first test flight between June
and August this year. The USV is Italy's candidate to lead
the European Space Agency's effort to develop a
next-generation launch system to replace the Ariane 5 booster.
AGILE - AN ITALIAN NATIONAL SCIENTIFIC MISSION
-------------- -
9. (U) AGILE is an Italian Space Agency two-year scientific
mission, the only European mission entirely devoted to
high-energy astrophysics. The 350-kilogram mini-satellite
will be placed in an equatorial orbit 550 kilometers above
the earth to detect hard X-rays and gamma ray bursts. This
mission will acquire information on black holes, supernovae,
neutron stars, and yet-to-be-identified sources of gamma
rays. ASI planned to launch the satellite from the Satish
Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India. This launch site
was selected for cost reasons. Neither the U.S. nor the
European Space Agency is participating in AGILE.
STATUS OF U.S.-ORIGIN COMPONENTS IN AGILE SATELLITE
-------------- --------------
10. (U) Below is the most complete list we have of
U.S.-origin components in the AGILE, furnished by Carlo
Gavazzi Space.
-- DTC Case GC 0847-05 (nickel-hydrogen battery): On August
9, 2005 submitted license variation for Siriharihota, India
launch site; end user ASI.
-- DTC Case 862652, 9007988 (nickel-hydrogen battery):
Manufacturer: Eagle-Picher Technologies; End User: Carlo
Gavazzi Space S.p.A. (launch site listed as USA (Vandenberg).
(See license variation GC 0847-05).
-- DTC Case 931427 (reaction wheel assembly) or case
TA-1177-03): Exporter: Goodrich Corporation; End User:
Carlo Gavazzi Space S.p.A. Total value stated on license:
USD 155,000.
-- DTC Case GC 0221-06 (GPS Receiver Component Rad-Hard IC
(CAUGG ASIC) and GSP Receiver Component Single Chip Processor
(RAD60006C) CMOS Static RAM (SRAM): License variation
submitted on February 21, 2006; Requested End User: ASI;
Requested Launch Site: Siriharihota, India.
-- DTC Case 706176 (GPS Receiver Component Rad-Hard IC
(GAUSS ASIC): Manufacturer: AEROFLEX (Formerly UTMC). End
User: Laben S.p.A. Final Destination: Milan, Italy. (See
License Variation Request GC 0221-06).
-- DTC Case 709454 (GPS Receiver Component Single Chip
Processor (RAD60006C) CMOS Static RAM (SRAM). Manufacturer:
BAE Federal Systems. End User: LABEN S.p.A. Final
Destination: Milan, Italy. (See License Variation Request
GC 0221-06).
-- DTC Case GC 0324-06 (Payload Component Rad-Hard 32K RAM):
License Variation submitted in February, 2006. Requested
end user: ASI. Requested launch site: Siriharihota, India.
-- DTC Case 675615 (Payload Component Rad-Hard 32K RAM):
Manufacturer: Honeywell. End user: Laben S.p.A. Final
Destination or Launch site: USA (Vandenberg). (See License
Variation Request GC 0324-06).
-- DTC Case 956359 (Magnetometer): Manufacturer: SAIC. End
user: ASI. Launch destination: India. NOTE: Carlo
Gavazzi Space informed Embassy that it has decided to switch
to a different manufacturer for the magnetometer procurement.
The SAIC magnetometer will not be used for the AGILE
satellite.
-- Case number unknown: MOSFETs (Metal-oxide semiconductor
field effect transistors). Manufacturer: International
Rectifier; Supplier: Consystem. License was approved, per
ASI.
COMMENT:
--------------
11. (SBU) The Embassy urges the Department and Department
of Commerce to expedite the review of this request given the
negative press we could receive by a continued delay. While
we hope that Italy qualifies for the requested permits, at
this point a quick no would be preferable to an uncertain,
drawn out review process. End Comment.
SPOGLI