5 ms·
“Stability, not guidance” — its sort of like “tax avoidance, not tax evasion”. I’m not sure what the defined red lines are in the US, but most people building
by showerst 6y ago
“Stability, not guidance” — its sort of like “tax avoidance, not tax evasion”.
I’m not sure what the defined red lines are in the US, but most people building rockets big enough for the feds to worry about are following the model rocketry code and associated with NAR/Tripoli, so at least have access to more expertise to help follow the rules.
Getting the big motors requires multiple certs from those orgs, so the system tends to be self regulating to some extent, since you can’t test your code without the hardware.
I know Joe Barnard of BPS has mentioned a few times that he doesn’t release his code because the laws are unclear, and lawyers familiar with them are expensive.
- mike_d 6y agoStability and guidance are both covered, specifically "gyrostabilizers or automatic pilots and integration software therefor" per ITAR. The MCTR has similar language bit I'm too lazy to find it. This is why most rocketry hobbyists won't release airfoil designs, propellant formulas, or advanced flight control systems. The issue isn't you building a rocket big enough for the feds to care about, but the people who can build (and use) big rockets using your designs. Iran for example relies heavily on open source for its drone program.
- souprock 6y agoIt seems that sharing plans would be fine after verifying citizenship of the recipient.
- taneq 6y agoI'm sure there are plenty of citizens of $YourCountry who are either (a) loyal to $CountryYouThinkIsBad or (b) not discerning about passing on some designs they got from an internet stranger.
- souprock 6y agoSure, but the legal problems go to them.
- mike_d 6y agoOnly if you got them to sign an ITAR End User Certificate and you have a reasonable belief that it was completed truthfully. HP for example is still heavily involved in the investigation of Huawei's export of HP hardware to Iran. They didn't get to just point and say "go talk to them."
- taneq 6y agoI don't think that's how legal problems work.
- 908B64B197 6y agoCareful, citizenship can still hide double allegiances [0] [0] https://www.justice.gov/usao-az/pr/former-raytheon-engineer-sentenced-exporting-sensitive-military-related-technology-china https://www.justice.gov/usao-az/pr/former-raytheon-engineer-...