ITAR vs. EAR for Satellite Components: A Plain-English Guide

The International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) are the two U.S. export-control systems that can apply to a satellite component. The ITAR, run by the State Department, covers the spacecraft items on the U.S. Munitions List. The EAR, run by the Commerce Department, covers the rest, including most commercial satellite parts since 2014.

What are the ITAR and the EAR?

The ITAR and the EAR are separate U.S. regulations with separate agencies, lists and licenses. The ITAR (22 CFR parts 120–130) controls defense articles and defense services on the U.S. Munitions List (USML). The EAR (15 CFR parts 730–774) controls items subject to U.S. jurisdiction that are not on the USML, classified on the Commerce Control List (CCL).

The ITAR is administered by the State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) under Section 38 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 CFR 120.1). The EAR is administered by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). An item is subject to one regime or the other: the EAR expressly excludes items exclusively controlled by the ITAR (15 CFR 734.3(b)).

For satellites, the two lists meet in one place. USML Category XV ("Spacecraft and Related Articles") holds the ITAR side. The 9x515 entries of the CCL (9A515 for spacecraft and related commodities, 9B515 for test and production equipment, 9D515 for software, 9E515 for technology) hold the EAR side, alongside the older entry 9A004.

Which satellite items moved from the ITAR to the EAR in 2014?

Certain commercial communications and remote sensing satellites, and many satellite parts and components, moved from USML Category XV to the EAR in 2014, most of them on November 10, 2014. Congress made this possible in Section 1261 of the FY2013 National Defense Authorization Act, which returned to the President the authority to decide which satellites belong on the USML.

The background matters because many buyers still assume "satellite equals ITAR". According to the State Department's May 13, 2014 rule, the FY1999 defense authorization act had required all satellites to be controlled as defense articles and removed the President's authority to move them off the USML. A 2012 Defense and State review then identified satellites and related items that were "not critical to national security" and did not contain technologies unique to the United States.

The result was a two-part rule set published the same day. State narrowed Category XV to describe "more precisely the articles warranting control", and Commerce created ECCNs 9A515, 9B515, 9D515 and 9E515 for the items that moved. Today, the USML states that spacecraft not identified in Category XV(a) are subject to the EAR.

How do you decide whether a component is ITAR or EAR?

Jurisdiction is decided in a fixed order: the USML first, the CCL second. If the item is enumerated in a USML category, or caught by a USML paragraph that uses the term "specially designed", it is ITAR-controlled and the CCL is never reached. Only an item not described on the USML is classified on the CCL.

The steps, as set out in 22 CFR 120.11 and the CCL's Order of Review:

1. Check the USML. Start from the item's general characteristics, find the category (Category XV for spacecraft items), and try to match the item to a specific entry. Where an entry uses "specially designed", apply the definition and its exclusions in 22 CFR 120.41.
2. If in doubt, ask DDTC. File a Commodity Jurisdiction (CJ) request on Form DS-4076 (22 CFR 120.12). DDTC consults Defense, Commerce and other agencies, gives a preliminary response within 10 working days of a complete request, and after 45 days without a final answer you can ask for expedited processing. You do not need to be registered with DDTC to file.
3. If not on the USML, check the 9x515 and "600 series" entries first. These describe items that were once on the USML, and they take precedence over other ECCNs. An item specifically described in a 9x515 or "600 series" paragraph is classified there even if another ECCN also describes it.
4. Then the catch-all paragraphs. Next, check whether the item falls in a ".x" paragraph for parts and components "specially designed" for those items, applying the EAR's own "specially designed" definition.
5. Then the rest of the CCL; otherwise EAR99. An item described by no ECCN is designated EAR99, which can still need a license for restricted destinations, end uses or end users.

Two points trip up suppliers. A BIS classification ruling is not a determination that an item is subject to the EAR in the first place; only a CJ answers the jurisdiction question (15 CFR 748.3). And DDTC must give Congress at least 30 days' notice before removing any item from the USML (22 CFR 120.4), so a CJ that moves an item takes time.

How do ITAR and EAR compare side by side?

The table below compares the two regimes as they apply to satellite items, using the regulations as published in the eCFR on October 28, 2026.

The 9A515 entry lists national security, regional stability, missile technology and anti-terrorism as its reasons for control, applied paragraph by paragraph. That is why two EAR satellite parts can face very different license requirements for the same destination.

Who must register with DDTC, and what does it cost?

Any person who engages in the United States in manufacturing, exporting or temporarily importing defense articles, or furnishing defense services, must register with DDTC (22 CFR 122.1). One occasion counts as being "in the business". A manufacturer that never exports must still register.

Narrow exemptions exist, for example for persons who only produce unclassified technical data or who fabricate articles solely for experimental or scientific purposes. Those persons still need registration before they can receive an export license. Registration itself "does not confer any export rights or privileges"; it is generally a precondition for licenses, and a person required to register must do so before using an ITAR exemption (22 CFR 120.15).

The fees in force since January 9, 2025 (22 CFR 122.3):

• Tier 1: $3,000 a year for new registrants, and for renewing registrants with no favorable license determinations in the review period.
• Tier 2: $4,000 for renewing registrants with five or fewer favorable determinations.
• Tier 3: $4,000 plus $1,100 for each favorable determination over five.

The EAR has no registration requirement. A company that handles only EAR items does not register with BIS to export.

What is an ECCN, and can you classify a component yourself?

An Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) is the code that places an item on the CCL, such as 9A515 for spacecraft and related commodities. Under the EAR you may classify your own items without BIS assistance, and the exporter, reexporter or transferor is responsible for getting the classification right (15 CFR 732.3(b)).

If you want certainty, you can submit a classification request to BIS through its SNAP-R system. Each request is limited to six items, must include a recommended ECCN and its basis, and receives a Commodity Classification Automated Tracking System (CCATS) number (15 CFR 748.3).

U.S. customers will ask for your ECCN. When a U.S. exporter ships EAR items under a State Department license, it must give the end user and consignees the ECCN or EAR99 designation of each item (22 CFR 123.9(b)(2)).

What changes for a non-U.S. supplier?

U.S. export controls follow U.S.-origin items, U.S. technology and the people who handle them, not just shipments leaving the United States. A non-U.S. supplier meets them in five ways: reexports, de minimis content, foreign direct products, ITAR content inside its own products, and deemed exports to its staff.

Reexports and retransfers

Under the ITAR, DDTC's written approval is needed before a defense article is resold, reexported or retransferred to any end user, end use or destination other than the one on the license, unless an exemption applies (22 CFR 123.9). The statement exporters must put on the invoice extends this to items "after being incorporated into other items". Under the EAR, all U.S.-origin items are subject to the EAR wherever located (15 CFR 734.3(a)(2)), and shipping them from one foreign country to another is a reexport (15 CFR 734.14).

De minimis U.S. content

A foreign-made product that incorporates controlled U.S.-origin EAR items is not subject to the EAR if the U.S. content is at or below 10% of its value (any destination) or 25% (destinations outside Country Groups E:1 and E:2) (15 CFR 734.4). Satellite content is the exception. There is no de minimis level for U.S.-origin 9x515 or "600 series" items in paragraphs .a through .x when the product is destined for a Country Group D:5 (U.S. arms-embargoed) country, and none for .y items going to E:1 or E:2 countries or a few others named in the rule. You must document how you calculated the percentage.

Foreign direct product rules

A product made entirely outside the United States can still be subject to the EAR if it is the direct product of controlled U.S. technology or software (15 CFR 734.9). Under the 9x515 rule, that applies when a foreign-produced item in a 9x515 ECCN is the direct product of U.S.-origin 9D515 software or 9E515 technology, and is destined for a country in Country Group D:5, E:1 or E:2. The "600 series" rule works the same way, for a wider set of country groups (D:1, D:3, D:4, D:5, E:1, E:2).

ITAR content inside your product ("see-through")

"See-through" is industry shorthand, not a regulatory term, for the rule that a defense article "remain[s] subject to" the ITAR after it is incorporated into an item that is not on the USML, unless the ITAR says otherwise (22 CFR 120.11(c)). A foreign-made product containing one ITAR-controlled part can therefore need DDTC approval to be reexported.

Category XV has its own carve-outs for spacecraft. A spacecraft classified under 9A004 or 9A515 stays subject to the EAR even if USML defense articles are incorporated into it, unless the result is a spacecraft that Category XV(a) describes. Category XV(e) parts become subject to the EAR once they are integrated into an EAR item before export, but parts shipped to be integrated, and the technical data and services related to them, remain under the ITAR (22 CFR 121.1, Category XV).

Deemed exports to foreign employees

Releasing controlled technical data or technology to a foreign person inside the United States is an export. Under the ITAR, it is treated as an export to every country where that person holds or has held citizenship or holds permanent residency (22 CFR 120.50). Under the EAR, it is treated as an export to the person's most recent country of citizenship or permanent residency (15 CFR 734.13).

This matters for a non-U.S. supplier that opens a U.S. office or sends engineers to a U.S. customer's site. The customer may need authorization before it can share drawings or test data with your team, and the ITAR test looks at every citizenship your engineer holds.

What changed in 2024–2026?

Recent changes eased trade with certain close allies but have not yet rewritten Category XV. The October 2024 proposals to revise USML Category XV and the EAR space entries were still proposals on October 30, 2026; the Federal Register shows no final rule for either.

The changes that matter for space suppliers, in date order:

1. April 19, 2024 (EAR): BIS removed license requirements and expanded license exceptions for exports to two close allies in a trilateral security partnership with the United States.
2. September 1, 2024 (ITAR): A new license exemption at 22 CFR 126.7 took effect for defense trade among the United States and the same two allies, limited to registered U.S. persons, government agencies and approved "Authorized Users", with an Excluded Technology List. The same rule added expedited licensing for three close allies.
3. October 23, 2024 (EAR): BIS removed license requirements for certain remote sensing and space-based logistics, assembly or servicing spacecraft and related items going to three close allies, and an interim final rule reduced license requirements on less sensitive space items for U.S. allies and partners.
4. October 23, 2024 (proposed): State proposed revising USML Categories IV and XV and adding civil-space license exemptions, including one for defense articles incorporated into EAR spacecraft. BIS proposed a matching License Exception Commercial Space Activities. Comments closed December 23, 2024.
5. January 9, 2025 (ITAR): The current DDTC registration fees took effect.
6. December 30, 2025 (ITAR): State finalized the 126.7 exemption and added a separate exemption for reexports and retransfers supporting those allies' armed forces.
7. October 1, 2026 (proposed): State proposed an omnibus USML review that would remove some items from the USML and add an exemption for the temporary export of an unclassified foreign defense article to its original manufacturer for servicing or repair. It does not amend Category XV. Comments are due November 30, 2026.

What this means for allied companies

For an allied satellite component maker, the first question is not "ITAR or EAR?" but "what is the classification, and who decided it?" U.S. primes and government buyers will ask for an ECCN or a USML category for each item, and a documented basis for it. A product that moved to the EAR in 2014 can still carry ITAR content inside it, and a product built entirely abroad can still be subject to the EAR through de minimis or foreign direct product rules.

The direction of policy since 2024 favors close allies, but it moves through specific exemptions with eligibility conditions, not a general relaxation. Watch the October 2024 Category XV proposal: if it becomes final, the line between the two regimes for space items will shift again. Related reading: What Is a Non-Red Supply Chain?, Selling to U.S. Prime Contractors and How the DoD Buys Commercial Space Technology.