IISL Happy Hour
Register for IISL Happy Hour #19
The 19th IISL Happy Hour will be held on 6 May, 12:30-14:00 CEST. In this happy hour, Dr. Diane Howard from the University of Texas at Austin and former Vice President of the IISL (2014-2021) will share her experience under the title “Dr. Diane Howard: My Life in Service” on serving the US Government under two successive Administrations, first as Chief Council for Space Commerce, Department of Commerce (2019-2021) and then as Director for Commercial Space Policy, National Space Council (2021-2025).
IISL Happy Hour #18 held
IISL Happy Hours are events coordinated and co-hosted by IISL Members Setsuko Aoki and Quentin Verspieren. This is a monthly 60-minute program starting with a presentation by an IISL member about a recent project or study, followed by a free discussion session during which all participating IISL members are invited to chat and report on their relevant activities. The 18th IISL Happy Hour was held on 31 January (Thursday) 1230- 1330 CET. The IISL President Kai-Uwe Schrogl made an opening remark reflecting the achievement of the IISL of the year 2024 and expressing a hope for 2025.Then, Prof. Olavo de O. Bittencourt Neto of the Catholic University of Santos (Brazil) made an academic presentation titled “The Risks of Space Law Fragmentation”. Very active Q and A sessions followed before some updating and casual chatting of the participants of the 18th IISl Happy Hour. Participants were about 25 members. The presentation was followed by an active Q&A session. The video recording of the 18th IISL Happy Hour is available below.
Register for IISL Happy Hour #18
The 18th and first IISL Happy Hour in 2025 will be held on 30 January (Thursday) 12:30 -13:30 CET. Dr. Olavo Bittencourt, a board member of the IISL will make a presentation titled “the risks of space law fragmentation” for the first part of the Happy Hour. Then, attendees will exchange views and update as a space law family the residual time.
IISL Happy Hour #17 held
IISL Happy Hours are events coordinated and co-hosted by IISL Members Setsuko Aoki and Quentin Verspieren. This is a monthly 60-minute program starting with a presentation by an IISL member about a recent project or study, followed by a free discussion session during which all participating IISL members are invited to chat and report on their relevant activities. For the 17th IISL Happy Hour, senior IISL officials introduced the main components of the IISL programme at the upcoming 75th International Astronautical Congress in Milan. They presented the sessions of the Colloquium on the Law of Outer Space, the two lunchtime dialogue events – a General Counsel Roundtable and one on the IISL Working Group on AI, and updates on the programme of the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition Finals and the 2024 IISL Awards Dinner. The presentation was followed by an active Q&A session. The video recording of the 17th IISL Happy Hour is available below.
Register for IISL Happy Hour #17 on IAC
Dear IISL members, The 17th IISL Happy Hour will be held on 26 September (Thursday) 12:30-13:30 h CEST (it could be extended until 14:00 h). This time, IISL Officers will share the important information with us, IISL members on the IAC 2024 , taking place in Milan, Italy from 14 to 18 October. To better prepare for and the make the most of the IAC 2024, please save the date and register the next IISL Happy Hour! In order to receive the meeting link, please register using the link below.
IISL Happy Hour #16 held
IISL Happy Hours are events coordinated and co-hosted by IISL Members Setsuko Aoki and Quentin Verspieren. This is a monthly 60-minute program starting with a presentation by an IISL member about a recent project or study, followed by a free discussion session during which all participating IISL members are invited to chat and report on their relevant activities. For the 16th IISL Happy Hour, Dr. Nomfuneko Majaja, Chief Director for Space Affairs at the Department of Trade and Industry, South Africa, and former COPUOS/LSC Chair gave a presentation titled “South African Space Policy & Law”, starting from the foundational Space Affairs Act of 1993, and providing first-hand information on subsequent domestic developments, including the founding of the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) in 2010. She insisted on the importance of space as a driver of socio-economic development in national space efforts in South Africa. She then delved into one of the most recent significant developments of national space policy: the drafting of a South African Space Industry Regulatory Bill. The bill has two main pillars: (1) creating an environment conducive of industry development, and (2) maintaining continuous supervision and control over space activities under the jurisdiction of South Africa, with an emphasis on space safety and sustainability. Dr. Majaja also expressed South Africa’s interest for emerging challenges in space: legal framework for resource utilisation, dark and quiet skies, debris mitigation and remediation, in-orbit services, etc. She reaffirmed the recognition of COPUOS as the main place for multilateral space engagement and South Africa’s ratification of the four main space law treaties (South Africa did not sign nor ratify the Moon Agreement). Finally, she presented regional efforts on space law capacity building, including the creation of specialised space law programmes in higher education organisations, the organisation of the Africa Region Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition for more than 10 years, etc. The presentation was followed by an active Q&A session. Attending IISL members then shared updates on their recent activities and new members introduced themselves to the community. The video recording of the 16th IISL Happy Hour is available below.
Register for IISL Happy Hour #16
Dear IISL members, We hope you are having beautiful summer vacation. The 16th IISL Happy Hour will be held on 1 August 2024, 1230-1330 (could be extended 1400) CEST. For this occasion, An IISL member and former COPUOS/ LSC chair, Dr. Nomfuneko Majaja will talk on “Space & Law: a South African Perspective including African Capacity Building in Space Law”. She is CD Space Affairs; Africa Regional Coordinator: Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition. In order to receive the meeting link, please register using the link below.
IISL Happy Hour #15 held
IISL Happy Hours are events coordinated and co-hosted by IISL Members Setsuko Aoki and Quentin Verspieren. This is a monthly 60-minute program starting with a presentation by an IISL member about a recent project or study, followed by a free discussion session during which all participating IISL members are invited to chat and report on their relevant activities. For the 14th IISL Happy Hour, Dr. Quentin Verspieren, Assistant Professor of Public Policy at The University of Tokyo and Space Safety Programme Coordinator at the European Space Agency, presented ESA’s recent Zero Debris Charter initiative, by which the Agency facilitated the drafting of the the world’s most ambitious vision of space debris mitigation and remediation to-date. He emphasises the importance of translating globally accepted space norms (e.g. LTS Guidelines) into concrete technical targets, to drive the implementation of more virtuous practices. Dr. Verspieren also insisted on the value of non-binding instruments in establishing a bold global consensus on space sustainability issues. The presentation was followed by an active Q&A session on the compatibility of such initiative with pre-existing ones, on the importance to deal with legacy assets and on how to look beyond Zero Debris at a Circular Economy in space. Attending IISL members then shared updates on their recent activities and new members introduced themselves to the community. The video recording of the 15th IISL Happy Hour is available below.
Register for IISL Happy Hour #15
Dear IISL Members, The 14th Happy Hour of the IISL will be held on 12 June 2024, 12:45-13:45 (CEST). It is high time we got together again to exchange views on a timely and relevant space law issue, as well as updating ourselves as space law family members. The theme on 12 June is “the Zero Debris Charter” as the world’s most ambitious technical vision of space debris mitigation and remediation to date. The speaker is Dr. Quentin Verspieren, an IISL member, and the safety program coordinator of the European Space Agency (ESA) who has been the project manager of the Zero Debris Charter. In order to receive the meeting link, please register using the link below.
IISL Happy Hour #13 held
13th IISL Happy Hour was held on 18 November 2022, 16:00- 17:00 CET. That was a session to review the IAC-22 held 18-24 September in Paris for further enhancing visibility of the IISL in the IAC and also providing better services for the IISL members in the coming IAC conference. 11 members attended this Happy Hour, and several participants attended it for the first time since February 2021, when the first IISL Happy Hour was held. Opinions and inputs include: – One of the benefits of the IAC is rich opportunities to interact with other fields of space activities and experts so that the scope of your activity would be widened. At the IAC, it is not restricted to just space law. – There are a lot of activities in the IAC and they are only increasing. So, for new commers, some guidance before attending it would be beneficial. Some frequent goers would become a mentor for new commers to tell the tip to make the most of the IAC. (Claudiu Mihai Taitu and Setusko Aoki become a mentor. More mentors are welcome.) – The mode offered for the interactive presentation (IP) session was rather disappointing. (If only this opportunity can be given for making one’s research be heard, then it does not seem worth attending.) Some amelioration is requested. – For the IISL Colloquium, the Young Scholar’s session and the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition (semi-finals and the final in the IAC opportunity) are most important, and featuring them in a larger scale would be great. – For some members, going through procedures (e.g. visa, selection of paper process) to attend the IAC is difficult. – Through the IISL homepage, SNS, and events held at International Space University, ECSL, etc. where IISL relevant members are involved, new ventures for the IISL such as “Knowledge Constellation” could be more widely publicized. Good and innovative ideas are not yet fully noticed. IAC showed how active the IISL community is and what great potential lies in our Members. We want to create as many opportunities for participation as possible and look forward to new ideas and initiatives from all!