[amsat-bb] Open Source Satellite Work Determined to be Free of ITAR

[Joseph Armbruster]

Jeff,

Everyone will be grateful, if there's something to be grateful for.  All I
am asking for is support of the claim that this is, in fact, a milestone.
The publicly posted CJ Determination letter, leaves ALL of the critical
information out and means nothing, without context.  What was in the
request, specifically?  If you want to claim that this is some huge leap or
advance being made on ITAR issues for ORI, AMSAT, or whomever... all I am
asking for is a copy of the Form DS-4076, a copy of all supplemental
materials and communications with the DOS/DDTC on the matter.  This way,
everyone in the community can read through and digest what was specifically
requested, in order to authenticate the claim.  I made an effort to find
the information on ORIs website , but nothing came up.  I apologize in
advance if I missed it...

You say no politics is involved, but I beg to differ.  This could be an
attempt to say "hey -bb, look how awesome we all are!! we defeated ITAR!!",
and then pat each other on the back on the -bb, Right, Before An
Election... just to get brownie points with the community, without
providing any actual substance.  A lot of BB-readers may not be
well-informed on the process and incorrectly conclude: "wow, what
progress!".

A little transparency could go a long way here.

If what is being claimed is true, then high-five, that's awesome!  But,
without seeing the request and supplementary info, the determination letter
means little to nothing to me personally.

Joseph Armbruster
KJ4JIO


On Tue, Aug 18, 2020 at 9:48 PM Jeff Johns via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb at amsat.org>
wrote:

>
> >
> > Although, I am not a particular fan of ORI so-far, which is why I voted
> for
> > Hammond, Paige, Stoetzer....
> >
> > I do commend any individual or entity that is able and willing to deal
> with
> > the DOS or DDTC.
>
> Have any of the three that you voted for spent any time putting in the
> effort that Michelle has done to reach the milestone she has achieved? From
> their campaign material, all I saw were promises of an HEO satellite which
> they haven’t been able to provide during their time in office. There was
> nothing showing that they were making advances on ITAR issues which I is a
> major roadblock for future spacecraft.
>
> It seems to me that Michelle et al are pushing forward to help create new
> technologies in a new way. I’m not an EE nor an ITAR expert, but I can
> easily recognize that I have not seen anyone from within AMSAT even
> attempting to do what she has so far accomplished with this announcement.
> If someone from within AMSAT is doing so, they certainly aren’t letting the
> membership know about it.
>
> Maybe people should just be grateful that someone is willing to put in the
> work to help move things forward in an innovative manner.
>
> I was not going to turn this news into a political statement but, since
> Joseph did, I will say that for those that have yet to vote, please
> consider myself, Howie and Bob. I guarantee that we will work hard to use
> work such as this to help forward AMSAT’s mission.
>
> Jeff WE4B
> http://we4bravo.com
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