Senators Oppose Technology Sales : Defense: Five lawmakers warn Clinton about easing restrictions on space-launch know-how. They say buyers could use it to develop ballistic missiles.

Five senators are pressing the Clinton Administration to maintain tight restrictions on the export of space-launch technology that could be used to develop ballistic missiles.

Responding to reports that the White House is considering relaxing the export controls, the senators warned that space technology is interchangeable with missile technology and easily diverted from civilian to military programs.

“We would urge the Administration in no way to lessen restrictions on the export of equipment and technology relating to space launch vehicle programs,” the senators said in a letter to the White House, which was provided to The Times on Wednesday.

The letter was signed by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.); the committee’s senior Republican, Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), and Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), John Glenn (D-Ohio) and John McCain (R-Ariz.).

The National Security Council and the Commerce, Defense and State departments have completed a review of U.S. policy on export controls, the spread of weapons and proposed changes. President Clinton is expected to act on the proposals this month.

A senior Administration official said Wednesday that leading Congress members and senators will be consulted before the President makes a decision. However, the official added, “we’ve spent a lot of time with different agencies working over these issues, and we do not expect to go back to square one.”

Clinton pledged during the campaign to stem the spread of weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles capable of delivering them. But industry and some government officials have pressured the Administration to relax some controls to spur exports.

Among the proposed changes is loosening restrictions on the sale of space-launch technology to foreign countries with legitimate space programs. The new policy would be coupled with tighter safeguards against diversion to military programs, according to Administration sources.

But the senators and experts in the field said no safeguards can prevent use of the technology in missile programs.

“Space-launch and ballistic-missile systems have about 90% common components, and it simply is not possible to safeguard against technical transfers to missile development,” said Brian G. Chow, a senior scientist at the RAND Corp. think tank in Santa Monica, who recently completed a study of the issue for the Defense Department.

Henry Sokolski, Defense Department deputy for non-proliferation in the George Bush Administration, said efforts to relax restrictions have failed in the past.

“The inherent danger in opening the door on space-launch-vehicle technology has been recognized by previous administrations and Congress because of the ease with which it can be converted to missile purposes,” said Sokolski, who is writing a book about non-proliferation.

A Clinton Administration official involved in the review process said experts are analyzing precisely what safeguards can be created to protect against diversion to military uses.

A year ago, the Bush Administration sought to ease restrictions on space technology, according to sources. The policy was incorporated in National Security Directive 70, a secret presidential order. But it did not go into effect because Bush was being battered on the campaign trail over Iraq’s use of American technology in its weapons programs.

The issue arose early in the Clinton Administration when the President ordered a working group in the White House to re-examine export controls and non-proliferation policy.

The Administration also is studying easing controls on computers, which pose far less of a dilemma to non-proliferation experts. They say that computers are so widely available abroad that most U.S. restrictions are no longer necessary.

Missile technology is a different story for at least two reasons, according to some experts. Unlike computers, it is not widely available, so U.S. restrictions play a major role in halting the spread of ballistic missiles. Also, the United States has pressured other countries to restrict their own space-launch programs and exports out of fear that the technology could be diverted for military programs.

Last year, the Bush Administration persuaded the South Africans to stop developing a space-launch vehicle. Last month, the State Department used the same reasoning to pressure the Russians to halt the sale of rocket engines to India for its space program.

“Other countries could argue that we are doing things for our own commercial interests, and it could weaken their restrictions,” said RAND’s Chow.

Bingaman said the plan to export space-launch technology has been pushed since 1989 by officials in the State Department.