Oct 17 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Thursday

eased export restrictions on U.S. commercial space companies to

ship certain satellite and spacecraft-related items to allies

and partners.

The changes are intended to make it easier for the growing

U.S. commercial space industry to expand sales while also

protecting national security and foreign policy interests.

U.S. space companies like Elon Musk's SpaceX, and large

defense contractors with space units like Lockheed Martin ( LMT )

, L3Harris Technologies ( LHX ) and Boeing ( BA ), could

benefit from the new rules, which were posted in the Federal

Register on Thursday afternoon.

"As the diversity of commercial activity in space grows,

these rules will reduce the burden for U.S. industry to continue

innovating and leading in the space sector," Don Graves, deputy

secretary of the Department of Commerce, said in a statement.

The updates will also add to the U.S.'s ability to

"broaden and deepen international partnerships, to grow our

economy and to collaborate on mutual space priorities," Graves

said.

Certain items involving remote sensing spacecraft or

space-based logistics assembly, and servicing spacecraft will no

longer need licenses for shipment to Australia, Canada, and the

United Kingdom, the Commerce Department said in the statement.

The rules could help the U.S. push ahead with the

trilateral AUKUS security pact between Britain, the U.S. and

Australia formed in 2021 to respond to China's growing power in

the Indo-Pacific region. Part of the pact is focused on

technology sharing.

Some less sensitive satellite and spacecraft parts and

components will no longer require licenses for shipment to over

40 countries. The countries include Canada, Australia, Japan,

South Korea and most of the European Union, a person familiar

with the matter said.

In addition, the Commerce Department will do away with

license requirements for the least sensitive items like

electrical connectors for most of the world, but not countries

of concern like Russia and China, the person said.

A proposed rule also was published regarding the transfer of

jurisdiction of certain space-related defense articles from the

State Department to the Commerce Department, making it easier to

export them to close allies and partners.

The rules come after a proposed rulemaking nearly five years

ago and a December 2023 National Space Council request.

After the 2019 notice came out, SpaceX urged the US to

consider ways to "streamline export control regulations for U.S.

commercial space industry to lower administrative burden,

decrease regulatory compliance costs and increase exports

thereby bolstering the U.S. space commercial sector and

industrial base."

The easing is expected to help expand SpaceX's footprint

abroad as it develops Starship, the company's reusable

next-generation rocket.

SpaceX and officials from the Pentagon and Australia are

discussing plans to test-land a Starship rocket off the coast of

Australia and bring it ashore for recovery, Reuters reported in

July. The Starship arrangement could open the door to a greater

SpaceX presence in Australia.