Relaxed ‘munitions’ rules pave way for aerospace exports

LOUISVILLE — For the aerospace industry in the Boulder Valley and across the nation, the sky’s not quite the limit – but it’s much closer.

Government rules designed to keep American-made components with possible military uses from falling into hostile hands – the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) – increasingly hampered U.S. companies’ ability to compete with foreign producers who were under no such restrictions. Years of pressure from the satellite industry finally pushed Congress to act, and late last year most civil and commercial satellites and components were moved from the U.S. Munitions List to the…