2021 Galloway Symposium on Critical Issues in Space Law successfully held

The 2021 Galloway Symposium was successfully held in a virtual setting on 14 December 2021, 9:00-12:30 US Eastern time. The excellent contributions by the presenters were followed by a rich discussion in the Q&A sessions following each panel.

Following a timely keynote speech which highlighted the current legal and policy developments in the United States, the Symposium had a welcome from the IISL President, a keynote address and three panels.

The IISL president emphasized in his introduction that with an even wider, global virtual audience, IISL now benefits from two features of Galloway: firstly, global dialogue (as in panel 1) and secondly, insights for the global audience – which can attend from different locations, not only locally – in US activities and developments (panels 2 and 3).

The first panel addressed of the national frameworks for space resource extraction by Japan, Luxembourg, and the US, as well as updated information on the newly founded COPUOS Legal Subcommittee Working Group on Space Resources. The second panel discussed conditions for coordination and authorisation of space activities, highlighting both viewpoints of regulators and the industry in the US market, and the third panel concentrated on legal issues regarding private astronauts, with presenters from NASA and the private sector. To round off the Symposium, Marietta Benkö and Kai-Uwe Schrogl presented the newly released Liber Amoricum in honor of the late Dr. George Robinson.

The 2021 Galloway agenda in detail:

• 09:00 – 09:10: Welcome: Kai-Uwe Schrogl, President, International Institute of Space Law

• 09:10 – 09:20: Keynote: Dr. Diane Howard, Director Commercial Policy, U.S. National Space Council

• 09:20 – 10:10: National Space Resource Extraction Laws
• Moderator, Joanne Irene Gabrynowicz, Prof. Emerita, UM School of Law, IISL Director
• Japan – Setsuko Aoki, Prof. of Law, Keio University Law School, Tokyo, Japan
• Luxembourg – Mahulena Hofmann, Prof., SES Chair in Space, SatCom and Media Law, University of Luxembourg
• U.S. – Michael Dodge, Assoc. Prof., Director of Graduate Studies, Dept. of Space Studies, Univ. of ND
• UNCOPUOS LSC WG – Steven Freeland, Emeritus Professor, Western Sydney University; Professorial Fellow, Bond University; Vice-Chair UNCOPUOS Working Group on Space Resources
• 10:10- 10:25: Break

• 10:25 -11:15: Coordination and Authorization of Space Activities
• Moderator, Dennis Burnett, General Counsel, HawkEye 360
• Ryan Guglietta, Office of Space Affairs, U.S. Dept. of State
• Therese Jones, Senior Director of Policy, Satellite Industry Association
• Audrey Allison, Senior Project Leader, Center for Space Policy and Strategy, Aerospace Corporation

• 11:15 -12:05: Legal Issues Regarding Private Astronauts
• Moderator, Milton “Skip” Smith, Member, Sherman, and Howard
• Sumara Thompson-King, General Counsel, NASA
• Aaron Futch, Sr. Director, Legal, Commercial and Regulatory, Virgin Galactic
• Megan Sieffert, Axiom Space, Inc.

• 12:05 Presentation of Liber Amoricum in honor of the late Dr. George Robinson
• Marietta Benkö and Kai-Uwe Schrogl

The Symposium was recorded and will be available in the coming days in the IISL members area.

We thank the presenters and participants for their contributions and are already looking forward to next yea