{"id":2078,"date":"2019-06-20T14:39:39","date_gmt":"2019-06-20T18:39:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/?p=2078"},"modified":"2019-06-20T14:39:39","modified_gmt":"2019-06-20T18:39:39","slug":"noaas-remote-sensing-nprm-reaching-other-planets-cameras-on-rockets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2019\/06\/20\/noaas-remote-sensing-nprm-reaching-other-planets-cameras-on-rockets\/","title":{"rendered":"NOAA’s Remote Sensing NPRM: Reaching Other Planets & Cameras on Rockets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following on its advanced notice of proposed rulemaking for the regulation of remote sensing satellites, the Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a notice of proposed rulemaking<\/strong> <\/a>on the same topic on May 15.\u00a0 NOAA views this NPRM as a complete overhaul of its regulations, and it responds to the White House directive<\/strong><\/a> to streamline regulations.\u00a0\u00a0 The proposed rule would make:<\/p>\n

\n
several changes based on specific concepts supported by the public comments to the ANPRM, including the following:<\/div>\n
\u2022Updates and clarifies the definition of \u2018\u2018remote sensing,\u2019\u2019 with the result that many cameras used today in space for technical purposes will not require a license; \u2022Establishes a review process and license conditions based on potential risk, separating \u2018\u2018high-risk\u2019\u2019 systems from \u2018\u2018low-risk\u2019\u2019 systems, with the result that, based on a review of past applications, approximately 40 percent of future systems would likely be considered \u2018\u2018low-risk\u2019\u2019;<\/div>\n
\u2022Incorporates only those conditions specified in the rule in all licenses except for proposed systems that are novel and pose a high risk, estimated, based on a review of past applications, at under 20 percent of systems, thereby eliminating the uncertainty, additional review time, and regulatory burden imposed by individualized interagency review for all non-novel applications;<\/div>\n
\u2022Requires the periodic update of the low-risk category criteria, standard license conditions, and interagency review processes via public notice-and- comment rulemaking, thereby increasing transparency and regulatory certainty;<\/div>\n
\u2022Reduces the application review time to 60 days for low-risk systems and 90 days for high-risk systems, and eliminates the current practice of \u2018\u2018clock stoppages\u2019\u2019 for review of applications; and<\/div>\n
\u2022Reduces compliance burdens in several ways, such as:<\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Reducing the number and complexity of license conditions, including eliminating the requirement to offer unenhanced data to the U.S. Government before deleting (purging) data;<\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Significantly lessens paperwork burdens by reducing the information requested in the application and replacing audits with certifications; and<\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Incorporating all operating requirements into a single license document.<\/p>\n
\n<\/blockquote>\n

Jurisdiction and applicability<\/strong>.\u00a0 NOAA’s proposed requirements would apply to private remote sensing space systems operated by all entities, whether commercial, non-profit, or academic, who are United States citizens, as defined in the proposed rule, or foreign entities that would operate a private remote sensing space system from the United States.\u00a0 The requirements would not apply to U.S. Government remote sensing systems, such as those operated by NASA or NOAA itself.<\/p>\n

\n

Other planets<\/strong>.\u00a0 NOAA would define \u2018\u2018remote sensing space system\u2019\u2019 to include missions to conduct remote sensing from an orbit of any celestial body.\u00a0 This expands the reach of NOAA’s regulations, because currently they only apply to systems\u00a0 capable of actively or passively sensing the Earth’s surface<\/strong><\/a>, from space.<\/p>\n

NOAA acknowledged that its statute is not clear on this question. On the one hand, the statute defines \u201cland remote sensing\u201d to mean \u201cthe collection of data which can be processed into imagery of surface features of the Earth<\/em> from an unclassified satellite or satellites, other than an operational United States Government weather satellite.\u201d\u00a0 On the other hand, the licensing provisions in sections 60121 and 60122 of the statute address something different than \u201cland\u201d remote sensing.\u00a0 They authorize the agency to license \u201cprivate sector parties to operate private remote sensing space systems\u201d and forbid any U.S. person from operating \u201cany private remote sensing space system\u201d without a license.<\/p>\n

In other words, the statute–which is the document that tells NOAA what Congress wants it to do–defines one thing (land remote sensing), but requires a license for something it didn’t define (private remote sensing).\u00a0 To date, NOAA has interpreted its authority in a more limited fashion, namely, to remote sensing of the Earth.\u00a0 Now, in response Space Policy Directive-2’s streamlining initiative, NOAA would expand the scope of its reach from Earth to remote sensing from orbit of any celestial body.\u00a0 It does so on the basis that it may not exclude from regulation something that Congress told it to regulate.\u00a0 (Persons drafting the many versions of “mission authorization” should keep this in mind before saying that, of course, the executive branch wouldn’t require a license for something banal.)<\/p>\n

Given that the ambiguous statutory language makes its current interpretation reasonable, it seems unnecessary to change interpretations now.\u00a0 This may be particularly unnecessary given that other celestial bodies contain no nation states jealous of their privacy and sovereignty, and no military facilities protecting national defense secrets.\u00a0\u00a0 Given that no one is there, will all remote sensing of the Moon and other celestial bodies fall into NOAA’s newly proposed low risk category?\u00a0 One would hope, but I suspect it will be considered novel and thus high risk.<\/p>\n

Launch vehicle cameras<\/strong>.\u00a0 Here, NOAA did streamline its oversight.\u00a0 In response to comments to its ANPRM<\/strong><\/a> NOAA agreed that cameras attached to launch vehicle did not require a remote sensing license:<\/p>\n

In the proposed rule, the definition of \u2018\u2018remote sensing\u2019\u2019 excludes data from an instrument that is physically attached to the primary object being sensed, because this sensing is not \u2018\u2018remote.\u2019\u2019 This updated definition has the result of excluding many cameras used today in space for technical purposes, including cameras attached to second-stage launch vehicles, where the camera primarily images the launch vehicle itself; and cameras primarily viewing a solar array deploying on a spacecraft. Therefore, any cameras falling under the exclusion in the revised definition would not need a license.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following on its advanced notice of proposed rulemaking for the regulation of remote sensing satellites, the Department of Commerce’s National…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[136,69,137],"class_list":["post-2078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-celestial-bodies","tag-noaa","tag-remote-sensing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nNOAA's Remote Sensing NPRM: Reaching Other Planets & Cameras on Rockets - 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