The August 23-29 issue of the Economist magazine has an interesting article titled "Earthbound" that discusses America's ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulation) regulations. Basically the article says what AMSAT members have known for years - the regulations are being applied over-enthusiastically which is having a serious negative impact on America's space industry. Other countries are developing their own space industry in order to avoid having to deal with ITAR when buying from the USA. So the regulations are having exactly the opposite effect intended.
There is also another article in the same issue titled "Enter the Dragon" about the 5-year (2010-2015) gap between the last shuttle launch and the first project Constellation flight during which the US will have no manned space flight capability. Buying rides on Russian rockets requires approval from Congress, which can be a problem, especially now, with Russia's invasion of Georgia. The article discusses the various alternatives, including recertifying the shuttle and the COTS (Commercial Orbital Transportation Services) program. The "Dragon" in the title refers to the Dragon cargo capsule of SpaceX's Falcon program which is one COTS program that could be used to resupply the space station. They have designed the system to be upgradable for manned flight.
Alan N1AL