5 ms·

You try to push the world to the next level but only hire in the US? There must be a lot of stuff that you need which is not really limited by US law and that

by erikb 11y ago

You try to push the world to the next level but only hire in the US? There must be a lot of stuff that you need which is not really limited by US law and that people could work on from their home countries. Examples just in software engineering: Cloud infrastructure, user interfaces, communication platforms, open source projects that are 90% of where you needed them to be to use them, BSP layers for embedded systems you want to use.

josh2600 11y ago
They likely will have ITAR hardware in the same workspace as the software guys to minimize logistical overhead. Foreign nationals can't see any ITAR stuff.
- arethuza 11y ago
  "Foreign nationals can't see any ITAR stuff." If only it was that simple - in a former job I designed systems for a non-US multinational that did ITAR work and it was incredibly painful to work out the rules for who could or could not see particular items of data.
- Mvandenbergh 11y ago
  Slight nitpick - US permanent residents (green card holders) can see ITAR stuff even though they're foreign nationals.
arethuza 11y ago
I would suspect that a lot of what they do would probably be covered by ITAR. If that is the case then the compliance burden is probably going to be a lot easier to meet if everyone is US based.
yomly 11y ago
Who would want aliens working on their spaceship, after all...
a_imho 11y ago
I understand there could be regulations, but these things not add up for me. >Applicants must be a United States citizen ... >We hold all information confidential and are an equal opportunity employer. [1]Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, protects applicants and employees from discrimination in hiring, promotion, discharge, pay, fringe benefits, job training, classification, referral, and other aspects of employment, on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), or national origin. [1]http://www1.eeoc.gov/employers/upload/eeoc_self_print_poster.pdf http://www1.eeoc.gov/employers/upload/eeoc_self_print_poster...
- infinite8s 11y ago
  The civil right act only holds for American citizens and green-card holders.
  - a_imho 11y ago
    Thanks, it makes sense.
- ikurei 11y ago
  IANAL, but national origin and citizenship are two different things.
  - vonmoltke 11y ago
    Yes. There are legitimate reasons for companies operating in certain sectors to require US citizenship. In fact, non-citizens are not even allowed in the facilities of some companies. Still, the myth persists that citizenship is always a prohibited requirement.
- rhplus 11y ago
  It's not the civil rights act, but the immigration reform act that would be relevant here: "Employers should not ask whether or not a job applicant is a United States citizen before making an offer of employment... the law prohibits employers from hiring only U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents unless required to do so by law, regulation or government contract" [1] However, from the job listings, it sounds like that all employees would have access to regulated information, thus exempting them from the prohibition: "...U.S. citizen, permanent resident alien or otherwise able to review all export-controlled technical information." [1] http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/practices/inquiries_citizenship.cfm http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/practices/inquiries_citizenship.cfm
ap22213 11y ago
Well considering that US space tech is like 30 years ahead of most other countries, e.g. China, it makes sense. I mean they steal everything else, gotta keep some things secret.
- ceejayoz 11y ago
  Let's not be too proud of ourselves... the Chinese can at least get humans into space on their own right now.
  - ap22213 11y ago
    Which the US did in 1961... The Chinese do silly things like blow up satellites (causing space debris), to show their might - things that the US had done 30 years ago. Whereas, the US has systems that can track and predict all space debris of sizes greater than 1/2 inch. It's just orders of magnitude more advanced.
    - sbierwagen 11y ago
      One might note that a year after the Chinese anti-satellite missile test, the US did the same exact thing, also producing orbital debris: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Burnt_Frost https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Burnt_Frost
      - ap22213 11y ago
        This suggests that no debris was created: http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/u-s-navy-missile-defense-operation-burnt-frost/ http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/u-s-navy-missile-...
        Symmetry 11y ago
        Plenty of debris was created, it was just in a low and decaying orbit so it was mostly gone in a few days. By contrast most of the debris from the Chinese test will still be there in 2030 unless someone goes out and cleans it up. On the other hand the argument was about China's technical abilities and intercepting something in a higher orbit with a faster closing velocity is harder to do than the US's anti-satellite test. The Chinese proved they could destroy surveillance satellites and the US didn't really show that they could do the same.

by erikb 11y ago

josh2600 11y ago

They likely will have ITAR hardware in the same workspace as the software guys to minimize logistical overhead. Foreign nationals can't see any ITAR stuff.

arethuza 11y ago
"Foreign nationals can't see any ITAR stuff." If only it was that simple - in a former job I designed systems for a non-US multinational that did ITAR work and it was incredibly painful to work out the rules for who could or could not see particular items of data.
Mvandenbergh 11y ago
Slight nitpick - US permanent residents (green card holders) can see ITAR stuff even though they're foreign nationals.

arethuza 11y ago

I would suspect that a lot of what they do would probably be covered by ITAR. If that is the case then the compliance burden is probably going to be a lot easier to meet if everyone is US based.

yomly 11y ago

Who would want aliens working on their spaceship, after all...

a_imho 11y ago

I understand there could be regulations, but these things not add up for me. >Applicants must be a United States citizen ... >We hold all information confidential and are an equal opportunity employer. [1]Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, protects applicants and employees from discrimination in hiring, promotion, discharge, pay, fringe benefits, job training, classification, referral, and other aspects of employment, on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), or national origin. [1]http://www1.eeoc.gov/employers/upload/eeoc_self_print_poster.pdf http://www1.eeoc.gov/employers/upload/eeoc_self_print_poster...

infinite8s 11y ago
The civil right act only holds for American citizens and green-card holders.
- a_imho 11y ago
  Thanks, it makes sense.
ikurei 11y ago
IANAL, but national origin and citizenship are two different things.
- vonmoltke 11y ago
  Yes. There are legitimate reasons for companies operating in certain sectors to require US citizenship. In fact, non-citizens are not even allowed in the facilities of some companies. Still, the myth persists that citizenship is always a prohibited requirement.
rhplus 11y ago
It's not the civil rights act, but the immigration reform act that would be relevant here: "Employers should not ask whether or not a job applicant is a United States citizen before making an offer of employment... the law prohibits employers from hiring only U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents unless required to do so by law, regulation or government contract" [1] However, from the job listings, it sounds like that all employees would have access to regulated information, thus exempting them from the prohibition: "...U.S. citizen, permanent resident alien or otherwise able to review all export-controlled technical information." [1] http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/practices/inquiries_citizenship.cfm http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/practices/inquiries_citizenship.cfm

ap22213 11y ago

Well considering that US space tech is like 30 years ahead of most other countries, e.g. China, it makes sense. I mean they steal everything else, gotta keep some things secret.

ceejayoz 11y ago
Let's not be too proud of ourselves... the Chinese can at least get humans into space on their own right now.
- ap22213 11y ago
  Which the US did in 1961... The Chinese do silly things like blow up satellites (causing space debris), to show their might - things that the US had done 30 years ago. Whereas, the US has systems that can track and predict all space debris of sizes greater than 1/2 inch. It's just orders of magnitude more advanced.
  - sbierwagen 11y ago
    One might note that a year after the Chinese anti-satellite missile test, the US did the same exact thing, also producing orbital debris: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Burnt_Frost https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Burnt_Frost
    - ap22213 11y ago
      This suggests that no debris was created: http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/u-s-navy-missile-defense-operation-burnt-frost/ http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/u-s-navy-missile-...
      - Symmetry 11y ago
        Plenty of debris was created, it was just in a low and decaying orbit so it was mostly gone in a few days. By contrast most of the debris from the Chinese test will still be there in 2030 unless someone goes out and cleans it up. On the other hand the argument was about China's technical abilities and intercepting something in a higher orbit with a faster closing velocity is harder to do than the US's anti-satellite test. The Chinese proved they could destroy surveillance satellites and the US didn't really show that they could do the same.