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CHAPTER 7 SUMMARY
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Chapter 7
Contents
U.S.-PRC Bilateral Agreement
Export Licenses for PRC Launching
of U.S. Satellites
Defense Department Monitors
Country-to-Country Agreements
Export Licenses
U.S.-PRC Technical Discussions
Occur Prior to the Issuance of Export Licenses
Technology Transfer Control Plans
and Security Plans Vary Throughout the Space Industry
Temporary Assignments of Defense
Department Monitors Disrupt Continuity of Launch Site Security
An Inadequate Number of Defense
Department Monitors Is Assigned to PRC Launches
Uneven Prior Technical Experience
of
the Defense Department Monitors
Inadequate Headquarters Review
of Monitor Reports
Lack of Headquarters' Support
Lack of Intermediate Sanction
Authority
Conflicting Industry Priorities
Satellite Manufacturers, Not the
Defense Department, Supervise Site Security Personnel
Reliance on Private Contractor
Security Is Inadequate
Insufficient Numbers of Security
Guards at PRC Launche Sites
The 1999 Defense Authorization
Act
Chapter 7
Summary

he U.S. satellite manufacturer is responsible for the physical
security of U.S. satellites that are exported to the PRC, and
for guarding against the unauthorized or illegal transfer of
U.S. technology during technical discussions that occur in
the PRC. The U.S. Government oversees this function by assigning
a representative of the Defense Technology Security Administration
(DTSA), now known as the Technology Security Directorate of the
Defense Threat Reduction Agency, to the launch site in the PRC.
This Defense Department "monitor" is responsible
for ensuring that the satellite manufacturer properly implements
a Technology Transfer Control Plan that is intended to provide
and maintain protection against the unauthorized transfer of
U.S. technology. Defense Department monitors also are required
to attend all meetings of a technical nature that may occur between
the satellite manufacturer's employees and representatives of
the PRC launch provider leading up to and during the launch.
In the course of their duties, Defense Department monitors
are required to report regularly to the U.S. Air Force's Space
Command and Technology Security Directorate Headquarters
on their activities at the launch site, including any security
infractions they have detected. According to the Director of
the Defense Technology Security Administration and Defense Department
monitor reports, these infractions represent instances that require
the monitor's attention, but do not necessarily constitute violations
of the export license that should be reported to the State Department.
The guidance that is provided to Defense Department monitors
provides that, should they encounter a security infraction at
a launch site, they should first try to work out the problem
with the satellite manufacturer's personnel, including its security
guard force. If this effort does not result in resolution of
the problem to the satisfaction of the monitor, then the monitor
is to call Headquarters and advise a supervisor. The supervisor
may then call the company to insist that it remedy the security
problem.
Defense Department monitors have reported many minor to
severe security infractions at launch sites in the PRC. While
the Select Committee's limited review has found no witness to
confirm that a transfer to the PRC of controlled U.S. technology
has occurred as a result of ineffective launch site security,
given the difficulty of proving that an improper transfer has
occurred, it cannot be inferred that no such transfer has taken
place. Moreover, the security infractions that have been documented
demonstrate the potential for technology transfers to occur.
Testimony by the Department of Defense on the potential for a
technology transfer to occur as a result of access to a satellite
in the PRC provides a perspective for considering these security
infractions.
The Defense Department concluded that visual or photographic
access to a satellite would allow confirmation of the existence
of various attributes of a satellite already in the public domain.
With additional, longer-term unguarded access, the
Defense Department estimated that a foreign intelligence collector
could gain physical access to the satellite and obtain technical
information of value regarding the satellite.
U.S. satellite manufacturers hire a security force to provide
physical security for a satellite while it is awaiting launch
in the PRC. In recent years, only one security guard company
has bid on and received contracts to provide this service in
the PRC.
The conduct, professionalism, and abilities of that company's
personnel have been sharply criticized both by Defense Department
monitors and the satellite companies.
Because of the potential that technology transfers associated
with the launch of a U.S. satellite in the PRC can occur, it
is critical that the Defense Department monitors, the physical
security guards, and the satellite manufacturers provide effective
protection of U.S. technology associated with launches in the
PRC. The Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act
for FY 1999 has addressed several of the criticisms received
both from inside and outside the Defense Department regarding
its monitoring program. However, the Clinton administration has
not yet issued regulations to implement the Act.
Chapter 7
Text
PROTECTING
SENSITIVE
INFORMATION AT
PRC LAUNCH SITES

he United States relies on a variety of means to protect controlled
military-related technology during PRC launches of U.S. satellites.
These include bilateral agreements between the United States
and the PRC, export licenses for satellites and related technology,
the presence of private security guards at PRC launch sites,
and monitoring of launch-related activities and communications
by U.S. Defense Department representatives.
Background

U.S.-PRC
Bilateral Agreement
In 1988, prior to authorizing the first launches of U.S. satellites
from the PRC, the United States entered into a bilateral agreement
with the PRC to prevent unauthorized disclosures of controlled
technology. Under that agreement, the PRC agreed to give the
United States access to and complete control over the satellite
and related information while it is in the PRC for launch. The
PRC also agreed not to seek to obtain unauthorized information.
1
Export
Licenses for PRC Launching of U.S. Satellites
Under U.S. law (including the Arms Export Control Act, the
International Traffic in Arms Regulations, and regulations issued
by the Department of Commerce), 2 a private party wishing to
launch a U.S. satellite from the PRC must first obtain an export
license to do so. The license limits the access that the PRC
can have to the satellite, restricts the information that can
be shared with the PRC, and requires that the private party develop
and abide by a plan to protect controlled information from unauthorized
disclosure. Private security guards are often hired for this
purpose.
Defense
Department Monitors
The United States requires that Defense Department representatives
must be present at the PRC launch site, and that the expense
of these monitors must be borne by the U.S. satellite manufacturer.
These Defense Department officials are responsible for overseeing
the physical security of the satellite and associated equipment
and documents. They are also required to monitor the technical
interchange meetings that occur between U.S. and PRC engineers
throughout the satellite development and launch campaign.
Each of these mechanisms for protecting sensitive, controlled
U.S. information from unauthorized disclosure is discussed in
this chapter.
Unauthorized Access Allows Opportunities
to Gain Information Concerning U.S. Satellites
and Other Controlled Technology

Launch site security is intended to protect controlled military-related
technology, including information that could be gleaned from
a U.S. satellite and its associated documents, equipment, and
technical personnel, against disclosure to the PRC. Protecting
controlled information that might be stolen or inadvertently
disclosed during the launch or pre-launch period is a demanding
and important task.
Efforts to protect U.S.-controlled technology during the launch
and pre-launch period in the PRC are complicated by several factors.
First, the launch and related pre-launch activities (often
called the "launch campaign") in the PRC take place
largely on a PLA military base. The Xichang Space Launch Center,
from which many U.S.-manufactured satellites are launched, is
located within a PLA military installation. Yet the U.S. satellite
manufacturer is required to maintain control over certain portions
of the facilities and to make them secure during the time a U.S.
satellite and its associated documents and equipment are located
there.

Second, U.S. satellite manufacturing companies take considerable
amounts of controlled equipment and technical data to the military
facility in order to assist them in their work to prepare the
satellite for launch. All this controlled information is required
to be kept under lock and seal when not in use and protected.
Yet PRC workers have legitimate reasons for having access
to some of these U.S. materials at various times, making the
security function particularly demanding.
Third, the U.S. engineers and support personnel who accompany
the satellite must live and operate far away from home, often
under relatively uncomfortable conditions. Some U.S. companies
are unaccustomed to doing business in such a demanding security
environment.
One satellite manufacturing company security official says
that his company takes every possible precaution, but notes that,
if the PRC really wanted to monitor everything that went on for
the duration of the launch campaign, it probably could easily
do so.
The official also recalls that, during one launch campaign
at Xichang when building access badges were being made for local
PRC personnel, a PRC man gave the official a business card as
identification. The card clearly indicated the PRC man's title
was "intelligence officer." 3 The individual was not
allowed access to the satellite.
There are indications that the PRC carefully monitors the
activities of the U.S. personnel at the launch site. For example,
Lockheed-Martin's Director of Security explains that the power
facility for the Xichang Space Launch Center is located adjacent
to the satellite processing building. At one point when U.S.
personnel supplied power to the satellite for testing purposes,
a number of PRC personnel emerged from the facility's power building
to determine what was happening. This was an indication, in his
view, of how closely the PRC was monitoring satellite operations.4
Access by the PRC
to U.S. communications satellites could permit the PRC to gain
information about the configuration and design of Western-manufactured
satellites. If the PRC has only visual or photographic access
to a U.S. communications satellite - the most common violation
of U.S. security guidelines - only information that confirms
known capabilities and is already in the public domain may be
obtained. If the PRC had unrestricted access to a U.S. communications
satellite for at least two hours, the PRC military could gain
valuable information that is not otherwise available in the public
domain.
The PRC could accomplish even exploitation that penetrated
the interior of the satellite, given two hours of time, without
leaving any traces.
With this kind of exploitation, the PRC could gain new information
about major satellite subsystems, as well as the design and manufacture
of each subsystem.
While unmonitored PRC access to a U.S. satellite for more
than five or six hours would produce diminishing returns, there
is almost nothing about a U.S. satellite that the PRC could not
learn from unrestricted access for 24 hours.
Among the reasons the PRC would be interested in exploiting
the technology in U.S. communications satellites is to determine
the satellite manufacturer's techniques for passive thermal control.
Thermal control is critical to satellite life. The PRC would
also likely be interested in:
· Encryption
· The materials
used in satellites
· Engine
and propellant data
· Electrical
design and protection
Additionally, the PRC could seek to acquire information about
the dimensions and part numbers for satellite components or assemblies,
as well as dimensional tolerances. Obtaining part numbers could
allow the PRC to try to acquire U.S. technology directly from
the manufacturer that would improve the performance and provide
for longer on-orbit life for PRC satellites.
Launch-related equipment, documents, and personnel accompany
the satellite to the PRC military facility for the launch campaign.
Technical interchange meetings between U.S. and PRC experts also
occur. All of these materials and exchanges relating to controlled
technology or information are required to be monitored by the
Defense Department.
Unauthorized PRC access to controlled equipment or materials,
including blueprints or testing equipment, could benefit the
PRC's own military space launch activities.
Unauthorized PRC participation in technical discussions, as
well as PRC eavesdropping into technical discussions among U.S.
experts, could have similar military benefits to the PRC. For
example, the chapters of this Report concerning Loral and Hughes
discuss in detail the potential gains to the PRC from technical
discussions held in connection with unauthorized failure analyses
performed by these companies' experts.
Inadequacy of Current Safeguards

The Select Committee's
investigation has identified numerous security lapses in
connection with U.S. satellite launches in the PRC that could
have provided the opportunity for improper transfers of controlled
information.
U.S. policy permitting the launch of U.S. satellites from
the PRC rests in large measure on the assumption that companies
will comply with legal requirements governing controlled information,
and that such information will not be transferred to the PRC
during a launch campaign. However, as noted below, reporting
available to the Select Committee indicates that there have been
lapses in security.
There is also reason to believe that not all lapses in security
may have been reported. During the course of the Select Committee's
investigation, no witness has been found to confirm that a transfer
to the PRC of controlled technology has occurred as a result
of ineffective launch site security. However, given the difficulty
of proving that an improper transfer has occurred, it cannot
be inferred that no such transfer has taken place.
Security lapses reported by the Defense Department at a number
of launches in the PRC include the following:5
· A PRC national
set up all secured and unsecured fax, voice and data communications
for a U.S. satellite
manufacturing company at the PRC launch site
· Doors,
windows or equipment unsealed or unattended
· Unsecured
windows - in one instance a window may have been unsecured for
21 days
· Multiple
instances of equipment left unattended
· Doors discovered
with seals ripped off
· Controlled
documents missing or unattended

· A laptop
computer containing digital pictures of the satellite left unattended
in a hotel room
· Notebooks
containing controlled information left unattended in areas where
the PRC had access
· Filing
cabinets containing controlled documents left open or without
proper seals
· Documents
improperly removed from cabinets
· Controlled
equipment improperly discarded in trash
· Multiple
examples of documents shipped without proper locks/seals
· Satellite
test data left in cabinets without seals
· Satellite
diagrams and other sensitive documents left out in the open
· Schematic
of satellite bus equipment module and related documents left
out
· Test valve
document left out
· X-ray position
diagrams found in improper location
· Notes left
on blackboards
· Improper
access by PRC workers
· PRC workers
spent long periods of time (an hour or more) in areas where they
were not supposed to be present
· No access
list of PRC personnel provided to monitor
· PRC workers
in controlled areas without proper escorts or badges
· PRC technicians
worked unsupervised in the area of the satellite
· PRC personnel
had improper access to fairing doors that provided visual/physical
access to the satellite
· Unauthorized
photographs were taken of the satellite
· Controlled
information not properly inventoried
· Telephones
used without proper security procedures
· Improper
practices with security cameras
· Security
cameras mis-positioned, giving the PRC potential access to the
satellite container without detection
· Failure
to man proper location when security camera inoperable
· Lax attitudes
toward security exhibited by U.S. personnel, including failures
to record or investigate potential violations
· Blueprints
of Vandenberg Air Force Base facilities exposed in the presence
of PRC personnel
· Unauthorized
discussions with PRC personnel


Defense Technology Security Administration Director Tarbell
confirms that Defense Department monitors have provided reports
that there had been circumstances of short-duration, unescorted
PRC access to U.S. communications satellites in the PRC.6 However,
Tarbell says that he is not aware of any evidence that this access
resulted in a technology transfer that would significantly affect
national security.7
A Defense Department monitor wrote the following comments
in his final report during a 1998 PRC launch campaign:
This assignment for DTSA [the Defense Technology Security
Administration] has proven to be exceptionally taxing and difficult.
We are trained, given the necessary tools/skills and expected
to protect U.S. technology from improper disclosure/compromise.
Our responsibilities as monitors become transparent when
aerospace companies (some not all) are given a Commerce License.
It is viewed by industry as a license to steal and the monitors
are a necessary evil to pacify management and our government.
There is a general consensus within the public sector that,
if restrictive measures and significant penalties are not levied
against industries (specifically aerospace) by the Commerce Department
(or higher), our technology will be compromised to such a staggering
level and that our highest level of technology advancements will
be available to our international competitors before it comes
off the research and development floor.
We as a nation cannot allow or afford to have industry
police itself when it comes to national security . . .
History is filled with unnecessary shortcuts in safeguard/
security procedures resulting in the loss of American lives and
federal grand jury investigations into illegal transfer of our
technology by major corporations in an effort to increase their
profit . . .8
In an October 27, 1992 memorandum, Sumner Benson, Director
of the Defense Technology Security Administration Technology
Policy Directorate, expressed the following concerns regarding
the security situation relating to the launch in the PRC of the
FREJA satellite:
During the subject launch campaign, PRC personnel had unmonitored
access to the FREJA satellite after it had been mated with the
PRC LM2C launch vehicle [Long March 2C rocket]. Because PRC access
was unmonitored, the [Defense Department] technology security
monitors cannot state with certainty that no technology was transferred.
During a three day period from 26-28 September 1992,
the [Defense Department] representatives noted PRC activity in
the Vehicle Equipment Bay (VEB), located in the lower section
of the FREJA clean room at the top of the LM2C [Long March 2C]
booster.
Neither the [Defense Department] representatives nor the
Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) representatives [the
purchaser of the satellite] had been informed about this activity,
and it had not been included in Combined Operations Procedures.
The PRC were apparently working on their
navigation and guidance equipment, but access to the lower side
of the FREJA satellite was possible from the VEB.
When the [Defense Department] representative became aware
of and attempted to monitor this activity, he was prevented from
doing so by the PRC launch site commander.
Through a series of meetings with PRC representatives of
the launch site, the launch site parent organization (CLTC) and
PRC Defense Department (COSTIND), the [U.S. Defense Department]
representative determined that the PRC:
Did not believe that unilateral work on their equipment
was combined operations activity and therefore advanced
notification and monitoring was not required;
Felt that the [Defense Department] monitor was overzealous
in wanting to monitor the PRC activity in the VEB;
Did not feel monitoring was necessary because they [the
PRC] could be trusted not to try to acquire any technology even
when they had access to the satellite; and finally,
Felt that they [the PRC] had not violated the Technology
Safeguards Agreement. 9

In another instance, a Defense Department monitor indicated
that he deliberately attempted to break into the satellite processing
building in the PRC to determine whether he would be detected.
The monitor was able to penetrate the facility and approach the
security supervisor undetected until tapping him on the shoulder.
10
Safeguarding U.S.-Built Satellites
and
U.S. Rocket Technology at PRC Launches

Country-to-Country
Agreements
In 1988, and again in 1993, the United States entered into
agreements with the PRC for the purpose of precluding the unauthorized
transfer of sensitive technology associated with the export of
U.S.-manufactured satellites for launches in the PRC.
The agreements specify that at no time will there be unmonitored
or unescorted access by PRC nationals to any of the equipment
or associated technical data.11 Additionally, only "form,
fit and function data" 12 that describe mechanical and electrical
mating requirements for attaching the satellite to the rocket
are authorized for release to PRC nationals.13 The agreements
further indicate that the U.S. Government shall oversee and monitor
implementation of Technology Transfer Control Plans, which are
required to be developed by the satellite manufacturer. The PRC
is required to permit and facilitate that monitoring.
Access to all satellite equipment and technical data is required
to be controlled on a 24-hour basis by U.S. persons who have
received training in security procedures from the U.S. Government.
These U.S. persons must exercise this control throughout launch
preparations, satellite transportation, mating/demating, test
and checkout, satellite launch, and required return of equipment
to the United States. 14
Export
Licenses
With the passage of the Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 1999, all satellites and related items have
been transferred to the United States Munitions List, and their
export is controlled by the State Department under the Arms Export
Control Act.15
Prior to this Act, the Department of Commerce had jurisdiction
for licensing the export of some commercial satellites from 1993
through 1996, and over export licenses for all commercial satellites
from 1996 through 1998.16
During the period
1993 through 1996, the Department of Commerce issued three export
licenses for commercial communications satellites to be launched
in the PRC that did not require the presence of Defense Department
monitors, and did not require the U.S. exporter to reimburse
the Defense Department for the expenses of providing monitoring
in the PRC.17
Although the U.S. licenses routinely stipulate the presence
of a Defense Department monitor, this requirement has not always
been well-received by the satellite manufacturer.
For example, in one instance, a satellite manufacturing company
demonstrated a negative attitude toward the presence of a Defense
Department monitor as required under a license issued by the
Department of Commerce. The Defense Department monitor explained
that he had a disagreement with a program manager and the company
site security supervisor over the manner in which a computer
board would be shipped. The security site supervisor told the
monitor that his company had a Department of Commerce license
for that particular satellite launch and, therefore, the Defense
Department monitor was in the PRC as a courtesy.18
Licenses issued by the Department of State include detailed
provisos concerning technology transfer and security. For example,
one license issued to Hughes stipulated:
Hughes must develop a plan(s) to comply with the applicable
provisos of this [license]. These plans must address the technology
safeguards implementation, security support, tranportation, debris
recovery and other issues. 19
The Defense Department's Responsibilities
for
Safeguarding U.S. Technology at Launches

The Defense Department provides oversight in safeguarding
technology at launch sites in the PRC. The Defense Department
does this in part by overseeing implementation of Technology
Transfer Control Plans and Security Plans prepared by the U.S.
satellite manufacturers as required under export licenses.
The Defense Department also is responsible for monitoring
all technical interchange meetings between U.S. and PRC personnel.
20 These meetings can occur as early as two years prior to a
launch and continue during the launch campaign, as well as after
a launch. Provisos in the U.S. export license for the PRC indicate
the limits of the technical data that may be exchanged in these
meetings. A Defense Department monitor is required to attend
technical interchange meetings when PRC nationals are in attendance
in order to assure that only data permissible under the license
is exchanged.
Deficiencies Observed in the
Current System

U.S.-PRC
Technical Discussions Occur Prior to
The Issuance of Export Licenses
When a U.S. satellite manufacturer applies for an export license
for the satellite and related technical data, the Department
of State or the Department of Commerce notifies the Defense Department
that monitors will be needed to oversee the launch and the technical
interchange meetings. However, technical discussions are conducted
over the telephone or through informal personal discussions and
marketing meetings prior to the license being issued.
This illustrates the fact that U.S. satellite manufacturers
are on the honor system, to a large extent, in ensuring that
no licensable technical data is exchanged in the absence of a
Defense Department monitor.21
Although Defense Technology Security Administration Director
David Tarbell agrees that "anything is possible," he
believes it is not likely that a technology transfer would occur
during early contractual discussions of this type. Tarbell says
that conversations in these early stages would relate to the
type of satellite the buyer wants, not how the satellite would
be launched.22
Technology
Transfer Control Plans and Security Plans Vary Throughout the
Space Industry
The current U.S. Government export control system requires
industry to formulate a variety of required plans, including
Technology Transfer Control Plans and Security Plans. These plans
are provided to the Defense Department for review and approval.
However, the plans vary from company to company, despite the
fact that the launch facilities are the same, and the processing
procedures of each company are similar.
Tarbell comments that, although standardization of the plans
would be desirable, some degree of flexibility should be allowed,
and any standardization should not rise to the level of rulemaking.
23
Temporary
Assignments of Defense Department Monitors Disrupt Continuity
of Launch Site Security
Because the Defense Department did not have the resources
to allow its permanent staff to participate as monitors on a
regular basis, the Defense Technology Security Administration
decided that the monitors for communications satellite launch
campaigns in the PRC and U.S.-PRC technical interchange meetings
should be drawn from the Air Force Space Command.24 According
to one former Defense Department official, an individual often
is chosen to be a monitor by Space Command because he or she
is between jobs or may be expendable.25
The duration and living conditions of these assignments make
them even more unappealing. In addition, these assignments are
unpopular with commanding officers because they do not enhance
the Space Command mission, and because participation by their
personnel could be construed as indicating that they have excess
resources at their disposal.
The lack of a permanent corps of Defense Department monitors
with relevant technical experience has drawn criticism from the
space industry.26
An aggravating circumstance is the frequent rotation of monitors
throughout the launch campaign. During the five-to-eight week
duration of one PRC launch, for example, as many as five monitors
were rotated in and out of the site. 27 Additional monitors may
have participated in technical interchange meetings that occurred
prior to the launch.28
Frequent rotation
results in a lack of continuity and consistency in monitoring
decisions during the technical interchange meetings and the
launch. The information discussed during a technical interchange
meeting is often based on the information discussed during a
preceding meeting.
Thus, a new monitor coming into a meeting without having attended
the previous meeting is not aware of what particular information
the previous monitor may have either prohibited or allowed the
participants to discuss. Additionally, as one former Defense
Department monitor opined, "The knowledge base that's required
from one technical meeting to the other sets the precedents for
the next one." 29
The same is true at the launch site. A series of Defense Department
monitors coming and going disrupts continuity. According to one
security official, ". . . to have three different DTSA [Defense
Department] representatives is very difficult from a security
perspective because . . . they each have their own areas of specialty,
they each have their own background and limited experience."
30
For example, while the first Defense Department monitor assigned
to the launch when the satellite arrives in the PRC is responsible
for ensuring that the facility is secure, in one instance a replacement
monitor toured the facility and made a series of changes to the
physical security plan that had been found to be satisfactory
by the
previous monitor.31
An
Inadequate Number of Defense Department Monitors Is Assigned
to PRC Launches
While the number of Defense Department monitors assigned to
a launch site has varied over the years, it has been standard
practice to assign only one or two monitors at a time to launches
in the PRC.
However, a July 1993 order of the Secretary of the Air Force
directed that:
Air Force Space Command will identify two to five qualified
technology safeguard monitors for each satellite program, depending
on the program's scope, complexity and duration.
Further, for each launch campaign (typically five to eight
weeks), Space Command will ensure that two to four monitors
are present at the launch site at all times.
To accomplish this, Space Command will assign one lead
monitor to remain at the foreign launch base for the duration
of the mission, and will typically form two teams of two monitors
each to accompany the lead monitor. Each team of two will be
at the foreign launch site for about five weeks, (nominally),
plus a week of travel time for each team (counting both legs
of the trip).32 [Emphasis added]

Some company representatives
believe that one Defense Department monitor is adequate during
the course of a normal launch campaign to cover technical interchange
meetings and to monitor technology at the site. This, they say,
is largely because most of the technical discussions have already
occurred during the years leading up to the launch. One company's
security manager says meetings with the PRC at a launch never
would occur without the presence of the Defense Department monitor.33
In the event of a launch failure, however, more monitors may
be necessary.
The sole Defense Department monitor at the Intelsat 708 failure
had difficulty working alone to oversee interactions between
the PRC, Loral employees, and the private security force to ensure
that no technology would be transferred as a result of the failure.
The monitor recalls that:
Following the destruction of the Long March 3B, Loral upper
management completely took over the operation of satellite piece
recovery and ignored my advice to delay piece recovery until
the area became safe and a meeting between PRC, Loral and myself
could control the situation.
As a result, at least two technicians returned from the
crash site complaining of bulging eyes and severe headache requiring
a
5-minute oxygen treatment.
I believe we were lucky we recovered 63.5 percent of the
vehicle [rocket] along with the [satellite's] encryption-decryption
equipment.34
This same monitor says he was not able to keep the Loral program
manager from traveling to the crash site unaccompanied before
the site was declared safe.35
Uneven
Prior Technical Experience Of
the Defense Department Monitors
Without a permanently assigned corps of Defense Department
monitors, matching the experience of the monitor to the necessary
tasks is difficult. Program officers, instead of engineers, have
been used as monitors.36
Some company personnel noted that the Defense Department monitors
have different backgrounds, and their technical expertise, therefore,
varies.37 By and large, the security managers interviewed by
the Select Committee believed that the Defense Department monitors
had the necessary technical expertise to keep pace with discussions
between the company engineers and the PRC. 38
The space industry has indicated that the Defense Department
should maintain an adequate staff of trained professionals in
monitoring technology transfer at foreign launches, with the
end result being more uniformity overall.39
The Defense Department monitors participate in a three-day
training course to prepare for assignments. The training is conducted
by Air Force Space Command and includes such topics as the International
Traffic in Arms Regulations, Export Administration Regulations,
Memorandums of Agreement, Licensing Provisos, Technology Transfer
Control Plans, Security Plans, Daily Logs, Incident Reports and
Trip Reports.40 Training also includes formal briefings by the
Defense Department, and continues on an ad hoc basis with regard
to particular licenses.41 As launch numbers have increased, there
have been more training sessions that incorporate lessons learned
during past launches to prepare monitors for future assignments.
42
Inadequate
Headquarters Review of Monitor Reports
The July 1993 order of the Secretary of the Air Force directed
that the lead Defense Department monitor for each launch campaign
must maintain a complete daily log of events during that campaign.
This daily log must include records of each meeting between the
U.S. satellite manufacturer and the foreign launch provider,
and it must summarize all decisions affecting technology security.43
The monitors are instructed to fax their daily logs to both
Space Command and the Defense Technology Security Administration
(now the Technology Security Directorate).44 Because the fax
machines often are not reliable at PRC launch sites, Space Command
also faxes the monitor logs to the Defense Technology Security
Administration to ensure that they are received.45
The lead Defense Department monitor is required to report
the satellite processing status and plans, along with any safeguarding
problems and recommendations, to the Defense Technology Security
Administration (now the Technology Security Directorate), and
also to Space Command at least once a week during a launch campaign.46
Space Command is responsible for the receipt and storage of
reports that the Defense Department monitors prepare and send
while they are on assignment at a launch site abroad. 47
The Director of
the Defense Technology Security Administration, David Tarbell,
says he is not aware whether Defense Department monitors' reports
are first received at his agency and reviewed, or whether
they are sent directly to Space Command prior to being warehoused
there.48
Although Space Command schedules the monitors and is considered
to be a flow-through point for reports from the monitors, Space
Command's interaction with the monitors is administrative, not
substantive, and similar to that of a program manager. Yet, Space
Command receives daily activity logs from Defense Department
monitors that contain information concerning security incidents
and infractions at the launch site.49
Tarbell stressed that it is the Defense Department monitor's
responsibility to assure that serious incidents are brought directly
to Headquarters' attention.50 Less significant security infractions
are reported to both Space Command and the Defense Technology
Security Administration via the monitor's daily logs.
Actual entries from Defense Department monitors' logs appear
at the end of this chapter.
According to Defense Technology Security Administration officials,
only two security matters reported by Defense Department monitors
have been raised to the attention of the Director in the past
13 months. 51
Lack
of Headquarters' Support
Some Defense Department monitors have reported difficulties
in contacting Defense Technology Security Administration management
in the United States while they are on a PRC launch campaign.
One Defense Department monitor noted in his daily log, during
a PRC launch operation in 1998: ". . . Attempted to contact
the DTSA office in Washington, however, all personnel were TDY
[away on temporary duty]." 52
Another Defense Department monitor also attempted to contact
the Defense Technology Security Administration in Washington
on another date, and also was told all personnel were away on
temporary assignments. 53
The Defense Department monitor assigned to the Loral-Intelsat
708 launch in the PRC reports that he attempted unsuccessfully
to resolve repetitive security infractions during that launch.
He indicated that he then attempted to contact Space Command
in Colorado, and wrote several memoranda to his superiors at
the Defense Technology Security Administration. 54 That official
then had to telephone Loral directly to have the deficiencies
reviewed and corrected.55 Following the phone call, the Defense
Department monitor acknowledged security had "greatly improved."
56
The Loral site security supervisor for the Intelsat 708 launch
indicates that the Defense Technology Security Administration
did not support the monitor in attendance at that launch. The
monitor reportedly had no security plans provided to him by the
agency beforehand, and had to make on-the-spot decisions concerning
the release of documents.57
Lack
of Intermediate Sanction Authority
One Defense Department monitor explains that several types
of security violations can occur during a launch campaign or
a technical interchange meeting.58 Most incidents fall into the
category of infractions that do not rise to the level of a license
violation, but may include such things as controlled documents
being left out in the open, unescorted visitors, and broken security
seals on doors or windows.
Tarbell characterized infractions as instances that run the
gamut "from very, very minor things to things that require
DTSA's attention, but don't rise to the level of an export control
violation that we should report to the State Department."
59 Tarbell says that Defense Technology Security Administration
guidance to monitors encourages them to try to resolve problems
on site and, if that is not effective, to contact the agency
immediately so that it can resolve the situation with the company.60
Tarbell says that he believes that his agency has a significant
sanction available - the ability to stop a launch. In addition,
Tarbell also indicates that he believes that the Defense Technology
Security Administration has additional enforcement powers by
virtue of its relationship to the licensing process and the Arms
Export Control Act.
However, there appear to be no intermediate sanctions available
to discourage relatively common, repetitive security infractions.
Conflicting
Industry Priorities
Tarbell acknowledges that the satellite manufacturer's program
management staff is interested in pushing the schedule, making
sure costs are low, finishing the project, and limiting risk
to the project. This forces the satellite firm to make judgments
that push as hard as possible against the barriers of security
and technology transfer. This is why, in Tarbell's view, Defense
Department monitors are necessary. 61
One Loral site security manager indicates that industry project
managers consider security to be an obstruction to the completion
of their mission. It is an extra cost and poses additional obstacles
to them.62 One Loral program manager repeatedly stated to a monitor
that "Security was ninth on my list of priorities."
63

A former security manager for Loral says that he argued against
having the program manager being placed in charge of satellite
security during the Intelsat 708 launch in the PRC, because a
program manager's main objective of launching the satellite will
take precedence over security.64 He was overruled twice, even
after several reports were received during the launch campaign
that the Defense Department monitor was having problems with
the program manager's lax attitude toward security issues.65
During the Loral-Intelsat 708 launch campaign, complaints
were made that the program manager invited PRC nationals into
the satellite processing building and allowed them to be photographed
standing in front of the satellite.66 The PRC nationals were
alleged to be employees of the local hotel, as well as members
of the PRC technical team.67 Comments were made that the program
manager's Chinese heritage invoked his sense of pity concerning
the quality of life of the PRC nationals near the launch site,
and motivated him to invite the visitors for a photo session.68
No record of this incident appears in Defense Technology Security
Administration files.
Satellite
Manufacturers, Not the Defense Department,
Supervise Site Security Personnel
At the launch site, the security force reports to the U.S.
satellite manufacturer's representatives (because the security
personnel's contractual obligations run to the company that pays
them, not to the U.S. Government). Therefore, the security force
cannot be considered to constitute an independent security function.69
Yet some industry officials insist that the program manager should
be responsible for the entire launch campaign, including security.70
Reliance
on Private Contractor Security Is Inadequate
United States commercial satellite manufacturers routinely
contract with a private security firm to provide security, including
protection against technology transfers, at PRC launch sites.
Since few, if any, other security firms currently provide this
specialized service, Pinkerton Aerospace Division has been used
almost exclusively by U.S. satellite firms launching in the PRC.
Of the ten security firms identified in a recent business journal,
for example, only Pinkerton currently offers foreign launch site
security services. 71 Another firm, Launch Security Services
International, provided such services prior to going out of business
in 1996.72

Both the Defense Department monitors and industry representatives
have complained about the quality of work and the conduct of
some members of the contractor security forces.73
One Defense Department monitor experienced a range of problems
with the private security guard force on a PRC launch, including:
· Sleeping
on the job
· Reporting
to work under the influence of alcohol
· Poor reporting
on daily logs and at shift changes
· Racial
and gender slurs towards PRC nationals in the local village
· Routine
bus trips into the town to meet prostitutes
· Overall
lack of respect for management

The Defense Department
monitor indicates that the solicitation of prostitutes became
so intense that he was approached by a PRC foreign affairs
officer who was assigned to the launch to report that one of
the guards had been seen soliciting prostitution in front of
the local police department.74
One security guard even reported for duty carrying a sleeping
bag.75
Another Defense Department monitor describes a situation during
a launch campaign in the PRC in which the contractor security
guards moved a table out of the line of sight of a video surveillance
camera, in order to use it as a bed.
Since the table on which the security guard was sleeping also
obstructed entry and exit to the room, the Defense Department
monitor called the guard on the telephone to request that the
table be moved away from the door, and back into the position
where it had previously been located.
The guard reportedly responded that he was "not in the
furniture moving business." 76 In response, the Defense
Department monitor had to leave his duties and walk to the remote
building to confront the guard and ensure that the table was
moved.
Insufficient
Numbers of Security Guards at PRC Launch Sites
Each U.S. satellite manufacturer is permitted to develop its
own security plans for launches in the PRC, with subsequent approval
by the Defense Department. As a result, the number of security
guards at PRC launch sites varies.
One U.S. satellite company security official indicates he
believes that attempting to take less than ten contract security
guards to a launch in the PRC is "rolling the dice"
in terms of the ability to provide effective safeguards. Taking
less than nine is, in his view, "crazy." Most satellite
manufacturers take 12 or 13 security officers to a PRC launch.77
However, one Loral site security supervisor says he was asked
by the program manager to try to reduce costs and investigate
the possibility of reducing the number of contractor security
staff, since the program manager had observed that security guards
often were idle. The supervisor agreed to require only nine security
officers - even though he had never been to the PRC launch site,
and even though he was aware that 12 security guards had been
used at the same facility for the previous Loral launch. The
Loral site security supervisor says that he experienced no problems
maintaining proper security with only nine officers.78
Some satellite manufacturers attempt to augment the contractor
security force by using their own technical staff to provide
escorts for nationals during a launch campaign. During launches
in the PRC, this has resulted in periods when PRC visitors were
unescorted and unattended, because the technicians were called
away or not attentive to their escort duties. 79
Correcting Security Deficiencies

In recent months, an effort has been underway to standardize
security practices among U.S. companies launching satellites
in the PRC. Security managers from Hughes and Loral have been
trying to form a working group with the Defense Department "to
try to standardize . . . some of our practices." 80
Tarbell notes that U.S. satellite companies have expressed
great interest in working with the Defense Department to achieve
some standardization in their approaches to site security.81
Additionally, some companies hold "lessons learned"
sessions after a launch occurs to incorporate circumstances and
responses encountered during a launch, including site security,
into future launch operations.
Following the failure of the Intelsat 708 launch, for example,
the security manager reviewed the Defense Department's reports
and findings and made changes to the company's security system.
He concluded that Loral needed "a much more intensive educational
program to inform everybody that there will be a very stringent
document control system with bright red covers and locked safes
and daily inventories.82 Additionally, the Loral security manager
requested that a representative from the Defense Department speak
to company management to discuss how the company could improve
its security procedures.
The
1999 Defense Authorization Act
The Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 1999 provides that U.S. business interests must not
be placed above U.S. national security interests, and that the
export or transfer of advanced communication satellites and related
technologies from U.S. sources to foreign recipients should not
increase the risks to the national security.
Further, the Act states that the United States should not
export missile equipment or technology to the PRC that would
improve its missile or space launch capabilities, and should
pursue policies that protect and enhance the U.S. space launch
industry.
In furtherance of these interests, the Act calls for mandatory
Defense Department monitors and reimbursement of related costs
by the U.S. satellite manufacturer, in any case in which a license
is approved for the export of a satellite for launch in a foreign
country. The stated purpose is to prevent the unauthorized transfer
of technology, including technical assistance and technical data.
83
The Secretary of Defense is also directed by the Act to establish
a program for recruiting, training and maintaining a staff dedicated
to monitoring launches of satellites in foreign countries. The
Act calls for mandatory Technology Transfer Control Plans approved
by the Defense Department, and Encryption Technology Transfer
Control Plans approved by the National Security Agency.84
The Technology Security Directorate within the Defense Department's
Defense Threat Reduction Agency is developing plans for implementation
of the Act. Tarbell indicated that the plans are undergoing funding
review within the Defense Department. Tarbell also indicated
that the Technology Security Directorate is reviewing the range
of satellite-related activities in which it should be involved.
85
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