IISL President and Members speak at AALCO Webinar on Space Law for Emerging Space Actors
20 November 2024. IISL President Kai-Uwe Schrogl as well as several IISL members were invited to participate today in the Webinar on Space Law for Emerging Space Actors, organised by the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO).
The webinar aims to explore the significance of space law-making for new entrants to the space sector, examine how the experiences of mature space powers in Asia, Europe, and North America can inform these processes, and emphasise the importance of aligning national legislation with international space law.
The topic “Legal Issues in Outer Space” was incorporated into the Organization’s agenda following a proposal by India at the Sixty-first Annual Session in Bali, Indonesia, in 2023. This initiative was further developed during the Sixty-Second Annual Session held in Bangkok, Thailand, in September 2024, where in-depth deliberations took place. These discussions highlighted the multifaceted challenges arising from the proliferation of space activities by various state and non-state actors, encompassing issues of safety, security, environmental protection, and a myriad of legal complexities. AALCO Member States emphasised the critical need to preserve outer space exclusively for peaceful purposes, expressing concerns about potential weaponization. The Bangkok session also highlighted the importance of capacity-building in space law for emerging space actors. In response to these developments and to support collaborative dialogue on establishing inclusive and peace-oriented governance structures for outer space, the AALCO Secretariat has organised this webinar.
More information on the webinar is available in the Concept Note of the event, available below.
Schrogl participated as a panelist in Panel 2 of the Webinar on International Experiences in Space Regulation.
All invited speakers to the event were IISL members, among which took part in Panel 1:
- Prof. NAKAMURA Kimitake, Director-General/Assistant-Minister (Ambassador) Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and Science Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
- Dr. Ranjana Kaul, space law expert and Partner, Dua Associates, New Delhi
- Ms. Ruvimbo Samanga, Space policy analyst and Research Fellow, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
In Panel 2 of the Webinar, IISL members participating were:
- Ms. Rosanna Hoffman, Project Lead, Space Law for New Space Actors, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)
- Prof. Dr. Kai-Uwe Schrogl, President, International Institute of Space Law (IISL)
- Prof. Andrea Harrington, Co-Director of the Institute of Air and Space Law, Associate Professor, McGill University.
Moreover, IISL members participated in the audience of the event.