The Obama administration is nearing the final and most contentious phase of its massive export control reform — telling Congress what items it ultimately plans to transfer from the U.S. Munitions List (USML) to one controlled by the Commerce Department. By the end of the year, congressional aides are anticipating the administration will detail how it will transfer two key aerospace categories of products from the USML controlled by the State Department to the Commerce list.

HOUSTON — Working ahead of schedule, astronauts aboard the International Space Station successfully grappled and berthed the unpiloted SpaceX Dragon re-supply capsule early Oct. 10, less than 60 hr. after the freighter lifted off. The three-member crew was scheduled to enter the supply ship on Oct. 11, or possibly late Oct. 10, for a 17-day, 2,675-lb. cargo swap (See charts pp. 6-8). The SpaceX mission marks the first cargo flight under the Hawthorne, Calif.-based company’s $1.6 billion, multi-mission NASA Commercial Resupply Services contract.

Are optimistic about prospects for reversing ban from the late 1990s on the export of commercial satellites

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INTELSAT 23: Intelsat and launch provider International Launch Services are preparing for the launch of the Intelsat 23 satellite aboard a Proton M rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on Oct. 14 at 2:37 p.m. local time. Separation of the satellite is scheduled for approximately 9 hr. and 30 min. after liftoff. Intelsat 23 is scheduled to start service at 307 deg. East longitude in 2012, replacing the Intelsat 707 satel­lite.

A significant short on Sept. 1 prompted a shutdown of the 3A solar power channel

USAF is reviewing 'unexpected data signature' emitted during the Oct. 8 launch of Boeing ’s GPS IIF-3 satellite