23 Oct 2019
On Friday, Oct. 18 the Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law program hosted their 12th Annual Space Law Conference in Washington DC, "Global Perspectives on Space Law and Policy." The event brought together over 200 registrants to discuss modern issues in space law and policy.
The first panel, "Commercial Space Legislation: US and Global Developments," featured Audrey Powers, Deputy General Counsel of Blue Origin; Mike Gold, Chair of COMSTAC; Irmgard Marboe from the University of Vienna Law Faculty; Frans von der Dunk from Nebraska Law and Lesley Jane Smith from Leuphana University Lueneburg. Marcia Smith, the founder and editor of Spacepolicyonline.com and Matthew Schaefer from Nebraska Law served as session moderators.
The conference hosted a lunch hour Space Agency Legal Counsel Fireside Chat with Sumara Thompson-King, NASA General Counsel; Masahiko Sato, Director of Evaluation and Audit Department of JAXA; and Phillipe Clerc, Head of Ethics and Compliance, and former Head of Legal Dept, CNES (French Space Agency). The conversation was led by Sergio Marchisio, Chairman, European Centre for Space Law, and Dennis Burnett, former Vice-President, EADS North America and Kymeta.
The group discussed going back to the moon, international collaboration, and the roles of their respective agencies. During discussion of Japan joining NASA's Artemis project Thompson-King said, “We’re not going to do anything new. We’re going to use that same system as we move forward. We’re going to build upon the collaboration and coordination that we have already been engaged to get the space station operational.”
The final two panels included "Spectrum Challenges for Space Activities: What’s on the Line for Satellites at ITU WRC19 and Before the FCC?" and "Woomera Manual: Military Activities in Outer Space." Spectrum panelists included Gerry Oberst, Senior Vice-President and Global Advocacy at SES; Ruth Pritchard-Kelly; Vice-President of Regulatory Affairs for OneWeb; Jennifer Manner, Senior Vice-President, Regulatory Affairs at Echostar; Franceska Schroeder, Managing Member at Schroeder Law; and Fred Campbell, Director of Tech Knowledge and former Advisor to the Chairman, FCC. Woomera Manual panelists included Stacey Henderson, University of Adelaide Law School; Brian Weeden, Director of Program Planning for Secure World Foundation; Mike Hoversten, Air Force Space Command; and Frans von der Dunk and Jack Beard of Nebraska Law.
During the conference Dennis Burnett, President of the Nebraska Law Space, Cyber and, Telecommunications Law advisory board and adjunct professor at Nebraska Law, announced the creation of the United States Center for Space Law. In addition to policy work, the center will raise funds to help students wanting to study space law, carrying on Nebraska's work on behalf of a major NASA Space Law education grant.
The event concluded with "A Celebration of Women in Space Law Reception" at the National Press Club. Students from the Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law student group assembled table decor featuring photos and biographies of notable women in space law.
The conference was co-sponsored by the American Society of International Law and the Space Law Interest Group and the American Branch of the International Law Association.