Document type: Toolkit Practice area: Technology — Aerospace Jurisdiction: United States (federal) and international Last reviewed: 5 September 2026

How to use this toolkit

Two ordering rules govern everything here.

Export control first. Violations under 22 U.S.C. § 2778 happen before anyone considers them and are criminal. Tool 1 comes first for that reason.

Licensing before design freeze. The orbital debris and coordination requirements are design requirements. A company that freezes the spacecraft and then applies will redesign or slip.

Tool 1 — Export classification register and technology control plan

EXPORT CLASSIFICATION REGISTER — [Company] — rev ___

Item / subsystem | Description | ITAR (USML cat.) | EAR (ECCN) |
Uncontrolled | Basis for determination | Determined by | Date |
Superseded?

NOTES
 · Item-by-item. The 2014 reform moved many commercial satellite
   items from the USML to the CCL (500 series, 15 C.F.R. Part 774).
   Assuming "all ITAR" is expensive; assuming "no ITAR" is criminal.
 · Re-run on every design change. Register is a living document.

TECHNOLOGY CONTROL PLAN — [Company]

1. EMPOWERED OFFICIAL:  ____________  Alternate: ____________

2. CONTROLLED DATA INVENTORY
   Repository / drive / wiki / ticket system / CAD / test data:
   System | Contains controlled data? | Classification | Access
   control method | Last audited

3. ** DEEMED EXPORT CONTROLS **
   Release of controlled technical data to a foreign national
   INSIDE the United States is an export to that person's country.
   [ ] Personnel roster with nationality / citizenship status
   [ ] Access matrix: person × repository × authorization
   [ ] Technical exclusion for unauthorized nationals implemented
       in the systems, not by policy alone
   [ ] Visitor procedures; escort requirements; clean-room areas
   [ ] Contractor and consultant screening

4. FOREIGN PARTY TRANSACTIONS
   Party | Country | Nature of exchange | Authorization required |
   Authorization obtained (TAA / license / exception) | Expiry
   [ ] Foreign suppliers   [ ] Foreign launch provider
   [ ] Foreign ground stations   [ ] Foreign investors / directors

5. TRAINING
   Audience | Content | Date | Attendance record | Refresher due

6. RECORDKEEPING AND AUDIT
   [ ] Annual internal audit  [ ] Findings and remediation log

7. VIOLATION RESPONSE
   [ ] Stop the release  [ ] Preserve records  [ ] Counsel same day
   [ ] ** Evaluate voluntary disclosure promptly ** — self-report
       and remediate ordinarily resolves without penalty;
       discovery by investigation does not.

Annotation. Section 3 is where space companies actually fail, and the reason is structural: this industry hires internationally and stores everything in shared systems. The control has to be technical — access enforced by the system, keyed to authorization — because a policy that says foreign nationals should not open a folder they can open is not a control. The first audit at almost every company finds active deemed exports; the difference between a manageable problem and a catastrophic one is whether the company found them or the government did.

Tool 2 — Regulatory schedule and monthly status sheet

REGULATORY SCHEDULE — [Program] — Launch target: ______

L-19  Export program stood up; classification register complete
        Owner: ______
L-18  FCC application filed  ← LONG POLE
        Owner: ______   Specialist counsel: ______
L-17  Remote sensing application filed (if imaging Earth)
L-16  Orbital debris analysis complete
L-15  ** DESIGN FREEZE — after debris analysis, not before **
L-14  Launch services agreement executed
L-12  ITU coordination in parallel; BIU deadline: ______
L-10  Earth station applications (one per site)
L-8   Insurance placed
L-6   Payload review data package to launch provider
L-3   Conjunction assessment arrangements in place
L-0   Launch
L+    Reports · modifications · renewals · anomaly reporting ·
      deorbit confirmation

STANDING WEEKLY MEETING: legal + ENGINEERING + program
(Most regulatory requirements here are engineering requirements.)

REGULATORY STATUS SHEET — updated monthly

Authorization | Agency | Status | Filed | Expected | Constrains
--------------|--------|--------|-------|----------|------------
FCC space station        |  |  |  |  | design, ops
FCC earth station (site) |  |  |  |  | ground ops
Remote sensing license   |  |  |  |  | customer terms
ITU coordination / BIU   |  |  |  |  | schedule
Export authorizations    |  |  |  |  | suppliers, staff
Launch (provider's)      |  |  |  |  | schedule
Clearances (if any)      |  |  |  |  | gov't work

OPEN ISSUES / DEPENDENCIES: ______________________

Annotation. The status sheet is not an internal artifact. It is what an investor asks for in the first meeting, what an acquirer's counsel asks for in diligence, and what the insurance broker needs. Maintaining it monthly costs an hour; assembling it under deadline pressure is how errors enter it. And the "constrains" column is the one that makes it useful to non-lawyers, because it says why each line matters to the program.

Tool 3 — Orbital debris worksheet

Run at concept, not at critical design review.

ORBITAL DEBRIS SHOWING — [Spacecraft] — [Date]

MISSION
  Altitude ______ km   Inclination ______   Mission life ______ yr
  Number of spacecraft ______   Mass each ______ kg
  Ballistic coefficient ______

1. DEBRIS RELEASE
   [ ] No operational debris released
   Separation hardware, covers, deployables retained?  ______

2. COLLISION RISK
   Probability of collision with large objects, deployment: ______
   Over mission: ______   Method: ______
   Congestion of the target shell: ______

3. MANEUVERABILITY
   [ ] Propulsive  [ ] Drag device  [ ] Non-maneuverable
   Delta-v available: ______   Conjunction response capability: ___
   ** A non-maneuverable spacecraft in a congested shell is an
      increasingly hard case. **

4. POST-MISSION DISPOSAL — ** FIVE-YEAR EXPECTATION IN LEO **
   Method: [ ] Propulsive deorbit  [ ] Drag augmentation
           [ ] Natural decay  [ ] Graveyard (non-LEO)
   Predicted time to reentry after mission: ______ yr
   ** Within 5 years?  Y / N **   If N → TRADE STUDY REQUIRED
   Disposal reliability (per spacecraft): ______%
   Across ______ spacecraft, expected failures: ______

5. CASUALTY RISK ON REENTRY
   Surviving components: ______   Casualty probability: ______

6. SPACE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
   Conjunction data source: ______
   Screening threshold: ______   Screening cadence: ______
   Maneuver decision process and decision-maker: ______
   ** 24/7 operator contact for other operators: ______ **

TRADE STUDY (if item 4 fails)
  Option A: lower altitude — performance cost: ______
  Option B: drag device — mass cost ______, new failure mode ____
  Option C: propulsion — mass ____, cost ____, qual time ____
  DECISION: ______  Approved by: ______  Date: ______

Annotation. Item 4's bolded test is the whole tool, and the trade study block exists because that is what the answer produces. Run this at concept and a failed test is an engineering trade with three options. Run it after the design freeze and the options collapse to two: an expensive redesign, or a spacecraft the Commission will not license as configured.

Tool 4 — Remote sensing availability analysis

AVAILABILITY ANALYSIS — [System] — for 15 C.F.R. Part 960 tiering

OUR CAPABILITY
  Modality: ______  Resolution: ______  Revisit: ______
  Spectral / bandwidth: ______  Other distinguishing: ______

COMPARABLE SYSTEMS
  System | Operator | Country | Gov't or commercial | Capability |
  Data availability to the public | Source of information
  -------|----------|---------|---------------------|------------|
  [domestic commercial]
  [foreign commercial]
  [foreign government / civil]
  [open data sources]

ASSESSMENT
  Is data of comparable capability substantially available from
  sources outside the control of any government?     Y / N
  From other US licensees only?                      Y / N
  From no one?                                       Y / N
  → Proposed tier: ______   Supporting citations: ______

CONDITIONS ANTICIPATED
  Condition | Rationale we expect | Operational impact |
  Our proposed alternative

LICENSE CONDITIONS AS GRANTED  (complete after grant)
  Condition | Text | Operational impact | READ INTO WHICH CUSTOMER
  AGREEMENTS

Annotation. The last row of the last table is the one that prevents a contract problem. Section 60122 preserves conditions on operation consistent with national security concerns and United States foreign policy and international obligations, and those conditions arrive in the license. Data agreements cannot promise what the license does not permit — so map every condition to every customer contract that could be affected, before the sales team commits.

Tool 5 — Launch services agreement term sheet

LAUNCH SERVICES AGREEMENT — KEY TERMS

1. LAUNCH SERVICE
   Vehicle ______  Orbit ______  Window ______  Rideshare? ______
   Manifest position: primary / co-primary / rideshare

2. ** CROSS-WAIVER OF CLAIMS ** (51 U.S.C. § 50914 — REQUIRED)
   Each party waives claims against the other, its contractors,
   subcontractors, and customers, for property damage and employee
   injury arising from the licensed activity.
   ** THERE IS NO CLAIM FOR LOSS OF THE SPACECRAFT. **
   [ ] Flowed down into OUR subcontracts
   [ ] Flowed down into OUR customer agreements

3. REMEDY FOR FAILURE  ← this is the real negotiation
   [ ] Reflight guarantee   [ ] Launch credit of $______
   Trigger: ______________________
   Timing: within ______ months   Manifest priority: ______
   If provider cannot reflight within ______: ______________

4. ORBIT INSERTION ACCURACY  (separate from total loss)
   Tolerance: ______   Remedy for out-of-tolerance: ______

5. SCHEDULE
   Committed window ______   Delay accommodation ______
   Customer walk-away after ______ months cumulative delay
   Provider license delayed/suspended (§ 50908): ______________
   Rideshare: primary payload slip → our rights: ______________

6. INTEGRATION AND TECHNICAL EXCHANGE
   Access, facilities, test participation.
   ** Export authorizations identified: ______________ **

7. INSURANCE
   Provider third-party liability: $______ ; names us? Y / N
   Our spacecraft coverage: ______   Evidence exchange: ______

8. PAYLOAD REVIEW SUPPORT
   Data package due ______; provider's obligations to support

9. TERMINATION AND PAYMENT MILESTONES
   Refundability at each milestone: ______________

Annotation. Item 3 is where the negotiating effort belongs, because item 2 is fixed by statute and cannot be traded. New space companies spend their leverage trying to carve back the cross-waiver, which cannot be done, and then accept whatever reflight language is offered — which is the term that actually determines what a failure costs them.

Tool 6 — Board briefing: why there is no remedy for launch failure

BOARD MEMORANDUM — LAUNCH RISK ALLOCATION
[Company] — [Date]

1. THE RULE
   Federal law (51 U.S.C. § 50914) REQUIRES a reciprocal waiver of
   claims among the launch licensee, its contractors and
   subcontractors, its customers, and the customers' contractors
   and subcontractors, and the United States, for property damage
   and employee injury arising from the licensed activity.

2. WHAT THAT MEANS
   If the launch fails and our spacecraft are destroyed, we have
   NO CLAIM against the launch provider. Not a capped claim. None.
   This is not a negotiated term. It is a statutory requirement,
   and no provider can agree otherwise.

3. WHAT WE HAVE INSTEAD
   (a) Insurance, if we buy it.  Cost: $______ for $______ of
       cover on ______ spacecraft.
   (b) A contractual reflight credit: [terms].
   (c) Nothing else.

4. THE INSURANCE DECISION IS A CAPITAL DECISION
   Insure all ______ / insure first ______ / self-insure.
   Recommendation: ______  Reasoning: ______

5. THE THIRD-PARTY LIABILITY STRUCTURE (separate question)
   Tier 1: provider's insurance for maximum probable loss
   Tier 2: US Government payment above that, subject to
           appropriation, up to a statutory ceiling (§ 50915)
   Tier 3: liability returns to the licensee above the ceiling
   Our exposure as a customer: ______________

6. WHAT WE ARE ASKING THE BOARD TO APPROVE
   [ ] The insurance program as described
   [ ] Acceptance of uninsured loss on ______ spacecraft

Annotation. Write this before the launch agreement is signed and present it in writing. Every first-time space company board asks "what do we get if the rocket blows up," and every general counsel who answers that question verbally has to answer it again twice. Section 2's flat language is deliberate — hedged phrasing invites the follow-up that wastes the next meeting.

Tool 7 — Insurance matrix

                    | Covers            | Period      | Insured $ |
                    |                   |             | Premium   |
--------------------|-------------------|-------------|-----------|
Pre-launch          | transport, integ. | delivery→   |           |
                    | ground damage     | ignition    |           |
Launch              | loss / partial    | ignition→   |           |
                    | loss              | [defined]   |           |
In-orbit            | loss / partial    | year 1..n   |           |
Third-party liab.   | claims by public  | per mission |           |
  (provider's)      |                   |             |           |
Collision liability | fault-based claims| operations  |           |
  ** market still developing **                                   |

DECISIONS
  [ ] Which spacecraft insured, which self-insured, and why
  [ ] Named insureds and loss payees
  [ ] Deductibles / attachment points
  [ ] Underwriter requirements that AFFECT DESIGN OR OPERATIONS:
        ______________________________________________
        ** Obtain these BEFORE design and ops decisions lock. **
  [ ] Broker: ______  (specialist space market)

Annotation. The bolded line under decisions is the operational point. Underwriters impose requirements — heritage, redundancy, testing, operational procedures — and a company that places insurance after freezing the design finds those requirements unmeetable or expensive. Get the underwriter's checklist while the design is still moving.

Tool 8 — Ground segment tracker

GROUND SEGMENT AUTHORIZATIONS

Site | Country | Bands | Authorization needed | Authority |
Applied | Granted | Coordination complete | Equipment export
authorized | Data export authorized | Local entity/partner |
Renewal date

FOR SERVICE PROVIDERS (ground-station-as-a-service)
  Provider | Countries | Bands | ** What do they actually hold? **
  | Evidence obtained | Contractual representation | Indemnity

RULES
 · A satellite license does NOT authorize the earth stations.
   Each site is a separate application on its own timeline.
 · Foreign sites need that country's authorization, under that
   country's law, on that country's schedule.
 · Using a service provider does NOT relieve us of responsibility
   for the underlying authorizations. Verify and contract for it.
 · Budget 9-12 months for a global network. Start early.

Annotation. The boxed question about service providers is the one that gets skipped. Operators assume a ground network provider holds everything necessary everywhere it operates, and sometimes it does not — for a particular band, in a particular country, for a particular use. Ask for the evidence, put a representation in the contract, and take an indemnity.

Tool 9 — Imagery and data license terms

DATA / IMAGERY LICENSE — KEY TERMS

1. THE DELIVERABLE
   Resolution ______  Revisit ______  Latency ______
   Coverage area ______  Tasking priority tier ______
   Quality thresholds ______  Delivery format and channel ______

2. SERVICE LEVELS AND REMEDY
   Miss on latency: ______   Miss on revisit: ______
   Remedy: [ ] service credit  [ ] re-task  [ ] refund

3. ** LICENSE CONDITION CARVE-OUT ** (non-negotiable)
   Provider's operations are subject to conditions imposed under
   its remote sensing license (51 U.S.C. § 60122) and its
   communications authorizations. Provider will comply with such
   conditions, and non-delivery caused by compliance is excused.
   Consequence for Customer: [credit / termination right / none]

4. USE RIGHTS
   Internal use only / derived products permitted / sublicensing /
   redistribution / publication with attribution
   Post-termination rights in data already delivered: ______

5. GOVERNMENT CUSTOMERS
   Data rights category asserted: ______________
   Markings applied: ______________
   Private-expense development records referenced: ______

6. EXPORT
   Customer nationality/location: ______
   Export analysis completed before signature:  [ ]

Annotation. Clause 3 is the clause a sales team will try to remove and must not. A remote sensing operator's ability to deliver is genuinely subject to its license conditions, and a contract that promises unconditional delivery has promised something the operator cannot lawfully guarantee. Write the carve-out, price the consequence, and disclose it in the sales process rather than in a dispute.

Tool 10 — Government data rights worksheet

DATA RIGHTS ASSERTION — [Deliverable] — [Contract]

WHO PAID FOR THE DEVELOPMENT?
  [ ] Exclusively private expense — evidence: ______________
  [ ] Exclusively government funding — contract/award: ______
  [ ] Mixed — allocation and evidence: ______________

  ** CONTEMPORANEOUS EVIDENCE OF PRIVATE-EXPENSE DEVELOPMENT **
  IR&D records | Cost accounting | Dated design documents |
  Board approvals of internal funding | Employee time records
  Retained where: ______________  Retention period: ______

RIGHTS CATEGORY ASSERTED
  [ ] Unlimited  [ ] Government purpose  [ ] Limited (tech data)
  [ ] Restricted (software)  [ ] Specially negotiated: ______

MARKINGS
  [ ] Applied to every deliverable, consistently
  [ ] Legend text verified against the contract clause
  [ ] ** Unmarked or wrongly marked data can lose protection **

FEDERALLY FUNDED INVENTIONS  (if applicable)
  [ ] Invention disclosure filed within the required period
  [ ] ** Election of title deadline: ______ — ON THE PATENT DOCKET
  [ ] Government license acknowledged
  [ ] US manufacturing preference noted

Annotation. The bolded evidence block is the tool. The private-expense question is asked years after the development, usually in a dispute or an audit, and the burden is on the contractor. Companies that keep dated internal-funding records answer it in a day. Companies that do not lose rights in technology they genuinely paid for, because they cannot prove it.

Tool 11 — Conjunction assessment procedure

CONJUNCTION ASSESSMENT AND MANEUVER PROCEDURE

DATA
  Sources: ______________   Update cadence: ______
  Screening volume / threshold: ______
  Probability-of-collision threshold for action: ______

DECISION
  Who decides a maneuver: ______  Alternate: ______
  Decision timeline from warning: ______
  Criteria: Pc threshold · miss distance · uncertainty ·
            propellant budget · mission impact
  Escalation: ______________

COORDINATION
  ** 24/7 contact for other operators: ______________ **
  Published where: ______________
  Reciprocal contacts held for: ______________
  Data-sharing arrangements: ______________

RECORD — for EVERY conjunction above the screening threshold
  Date | Object | Predicted Pc | Miss distance | Data source |
  Decision | Decision-maker | Rationale | Maneuver executed |
  Post-maneuver Pc | Propellant used

** WHY THE RECORD MATTERS: the international framework imposes
   FAULT-BASED liability for damage caused in space. If there is a
   collision, fault will be assessed from these records. They are
   evidence before they are operations documentation. **

Annotation. The closing note is the reason this belongs in a legal toolkit rather than only in an operations manual. A collision produces a fault inquiry between operators, in a domain with imperfect tracking data and no established forum, and the operator with a documented screening threshold, a documented decision process, and a contemporaneous record of every decision is in a very different position from one that maneuvered when someone felt uneasy.

Related documents

This toolkit is general information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship.