Statement by the IISL Board of Directors on claims to property rights regarding the Moon and other celestial bodies
Claims to own the Moon or parts thereof by private parties have been made for many years, but so far such claims have not been taken very seriously. However, this could change, as “deeds to lunar property” have started to appear, raising the opportunity for individuals to be misled. In addition, the scope of such claims has been extended recently to other celestial bodies. Thus, the Board of Directors of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL) has concluded that there is a need for a statement regarding the current legal situation concerning claims to private property rights to the Moon and other celestial bodies or parts thereof. While this issue is only a small part of a much broader context surrounding private sector activities on the Moon and other celestial bodies, this statement is limited only to the topic of claims to private property rights to the Moon and other celestial bodies or parts thereof. Read the full statement here.
IISL BoD Statement on the Consideration of the Interests of the Public and Other Stakeholders in the Authorization and Continuing Supervision of Commercial Space Activities
In July 2021, the Board of Directors of the International Institute of Space Law issued a joint statement concerning the role that the interests of the public and other stakeholders play with regard to commercial space activities. The statement highlights that commercial space activities should be developed in accordance with the rule of law, for peaceful purposes, and in a manner that is sustainable for the present and future generations. The Board calls on national regulators in charge of authorization and continuing supervision of commercial space activities to take into account, when authorizing and supervising such activities, the interests of all stakeholders, including the scientific community and the public, and the consequences that such activities may have future exploration and peaceful uses of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies. Moreover, compliance with the Outer Space Treaty and other applicable regulations and international guidelines for space debris mitigation, space sustainability, and planetary protection should be ensured. Read the full statement here.
IISL President participates in 2021 Space Diplomacy Forum
IISL President Kai-Uwe Schrogl participated in the 2021 Space Diplomacy Forum, an event co-organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea together with the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI), a state think tank, and held on 12 August 2021. The forum was entitled “Envisioning a Better Future through Space Diplomacy”. The event was attended by experts on space diplomacy, including from the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), from major space faring nations, as well as by embassy officials in the ROK. It was live streamed and saw a discussion of the current status of space development exploration, norms, and sustainable development goals and sought ways to expand networks. Prof. Dr. Kai-Uwe Schrogl participated in Session 2 on “Rulemaking for Space”. His presentation highlighted the heritage of international space law, the current challenges it faces, and with regard to its future, the importance of maintaining the rule of law in outer space. The slides of the presentation can be viewed here.
IISL participation in Seoul Defence Dialogue 2021
IISL president Kai-Uwe Schrogl and IISL Member Philippe Achilleas participated in the 2021 Seoul Defence Dialogue, which took place from 8 to 10 September 2021 and focussed on the topic “Borderless Security Crises and Multilateral Responses”. The programme of the 2021 Seoul Defence Dialogue 2021 is available here. The event was live streamed by the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of Korea and can be viewed here. Prof. Dr. Schrogl and Prof. Dr. Achilleas participated in Special Session 3 entitled “International Security Cooperation for Peaceful and Responsible Use of Space”. Prof. Dr. Schrogl’s presentation provided for introductory remarks to the topic, discussing the current opposing trends of an increasing congestion and militarisation of space, leading to a weakened approach to international regulation, vs. a rapidly expanding space economy calling for greater regulation of behaviour in outer space. The presentation is available here.
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
IISL General Assembly successfully held on 6 November 2021
The IISL General Assembly, for the second time after its inaugural online edition last year, took place in a virtual setting and completed its business in a smooth and successful way. Similarly to last year, it drew a larger participation than during prior on-site meetings held at IAC’s. The IISL President Kai-Uwe Schrogl, summarised 2021 for IISL in the following way: The President noted with appreciation that the IISL did not only continue with current activities, but managed to set up a number of new initiatives: The IISL President Kai-Uwe Schrogl also communicated sad news about the passing of two important members – Ernst Fasan and Joann Clayton Townsend. Obituaries written by IISL members Les Tennen (for Ernst Fasan) and Marcia Smith (for Joann Clayton Townsend) are available on the IISL website. To conclude, the President with full confidence acknowledged that 2021 was a successful year which continued the new initiatives from the previous year and showed a reinvigorated energy and vigorousness of the Institute, and moreover increased the activities of the Institute even further, bringing together the members of the Institute closer together. The President wished all IISL Members and their families good health and all the best for the new year to come!
The online IISL Young Scholars Symposium held on 18 December 2021
IISL Young Scholars Symposium was held via virtual platform on 18 December (Saturday) (13:00-15:00 UTC) hosted by the IISL and Keio University Law School. Following the welcome remarks by Setsuko Aoki, Vice-President, IISL and Kai-Uwe Schrogl, President, IISL, five presentations were made, which had been originally planned to be done in the “IISL Young Scholars session and Dr. Jasentuliyana Keynote lecture by a leading space law expert” (session 1 of the IISL Colloquium) on 26 October 2021 in the 72nd IAC/IISL in Dubai, UAE. 15-minute presentations were followed by active discussions. The speakers and their presentation titles are as below:
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IISL Happy Hour #9 held
Special edition: Briefing on the coming IAC-21 On 16 October, the ninth “IISL Happy Hour” was held, which started as a new communication format to interact and share good experiences among the IISL members in February 2021. The series of the IISL Happy Hour is coordinated and hosted by Vice President Setsuko Aoki. This is a monthly 60 minutes program. As a special edition, a briefing of the logistical aspect of the coming IAC-21 was given by President Kai-Uwe Schrogl, followed by the discussion, consultation and coordination among the participants. This time, about 20 IISL members participated.
IISL Happy Hour #7 held
On 21 August, the seventh “IISL Happy Hour” was held, which started as a new communication format to interact and share good experiences among the IISL members in February 2021. This time, 15 IISL members participated. The series of the IISL Happy Hour is coordinated and hosted by Vice President Setsuko Aoki. This is a monthly 60 minutes program. In the first half of the Happy Hour, a presentation is given followed by discussions and in the second half, members are invited to chat and report, moderated by President Kai-Uwe Schrogl. For the seventh IISL Happy Hour, Dr. Peter Martinez, the Executive Director of the Secure World Foundation (SWF) made a presentation on the African space policy, “Space in Africa”. Please watch the video and enjoy his presentation on the IISL member platform.