Sarah Banco

Former Senior Director of Legal Corporate at SpaceX

Sarah Banco is a Senior Legal Director at Hillspire, LLC. She also serves as Executive Counsel and Head of Strategic Affairs of Relativity Space. At Relativity, Sarah oversees several corporate functions, helping them develop and action strategy to drive corporate and operational priorities, both internally and externally.

Previously, Sarah was at SpaceX for 10 years, serving most recently as Senior Director of Legal. Her work included negotiating billions of dollars in novel contracts for Starlink, human spaceflight, and launch services, pioneering international launch and landing of rockets and space medicine, building multiple regulatory programs, and working government affairs matters. Before SpaceX, Sarah was an Associate at Akin Gump, where she was in the international trade group, focusing on export controls, sanctions, anti-corruption, and foreign investment.

Sarah holds a Juris Doctor (JD) and a Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of Michigan, as well as a Bachelor of Arts.

Meet our community

Anupam Chander

Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Law and Technology

Phil Schrag

Delaney Family Professor of Public Interest Law

Paul Ohm

Professor of Law; Chief Data Officer

Mary McCord

Visiting Professor of Law

Laura K. Donohue

Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Law and National Security & Director, Center on National Security

Steve Vladeck

Agnes Williams Sesquicentennial Professor of Federal Courts

Carlos Manuel Vazquez

The Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Law

Greg Shaffer

Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of International Law

Neal Katyal

Paul and Patricia Saunders Professor of National Security Law

Jennifer Hillman

Professor from Practice

Kathleen Claussen

Professor of Law

Rosa Brooks

Scott K. Ginsburg Chair in Law and Policy

Martin S. Lederman

Martin S. Lederman

Professor from Practice

Jane E. Stromseth

Francis Cabell Brown Professor of International Law

Julie Cohen

Julie Cohen

Mark Claster Mamolen Professor of Law and Technology

Filippo Lancieri

Associate Professor of Law

Matt Blaze

Professor of Law

Mitt Regan

Professor of Law

David Luban

Distinguished University Professor and Professor of Law & Philosophy, and Assistant Director, Center on National Security

David Koplow

Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Law & Assistant Director, Center on National Security

Mary B. DeRosa

Professor from Practice & Director, Center on National Security

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Student NoteNational Security & Homeland Security

Information Supply-Chain Risk Management for the Intelligence Community’s Procurement of Commercially Available Information

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Export Controls Under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade: An Analysis of the United States-China Semiconductor Dispute at the World Trade Organization

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How States Respond to Foreign Surveillance via Social Media: Bans, Breakups, and Beyond

Terrorism and Counterterrorism

Campus Protests: Student Advocacy in Support of a “Foreign Terrorist Organization”

Executive Autocracy Versus Professional Ethics

Trump’s Second Term: The Personalization of the Military and Implications for National Security

The War on Drugs and Trump’s Domestic Uses of the Military

When Values No Longer Matter: America’s Fading Soft Power

The Transfer of Detained Persons to the United States Military: Trust but Verify

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The Dangers and Limits of Government by Emergency Rule

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