Space Law & Policy

Next Gen missile defense systems rely on terrestrial and space-based intelligence; command, control, and communications systems; and potential post-attack responses, with implications for domestic and international law. Simultaneously, state intentions to build lunar and celestial colonies for mining, research, and other purposes, and the increasing commercialization of space raise challenges ranging from orbital debris and bureaucratic efficiency, to how space law will need to adapt in the future. The recent release of the Woomera Mwanual, edited by Professor David Koplow and others, and other scholarship and projects by our faculty and fellows provides insight into these and other challenges in relation to outer space.

Georgetown Law Professor David Koplow examines the growing number of soon-to-be ubiquitous constellations of small satellites and the problems they pose. He suggests some legal reforms to combat the dilemmas and temper the otherwise dangerous renewal of an unconstrained and unproductive international race to space

Moderated by Prof. Laura K. Donohue, Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Law and National Security, Georgetown Law, this panel presses on the new and emerging issues which accompany the interplay among contractors, the commercial sector, military alliances, and U.S. national security in outer space. Outer Space Law was initially formed as a subset of public international law, marked by treaties and soft law instruments.

This course provides an overview of U.S. domestic legal regimes that govern commercial spaceflight activities, including those managed by the Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Communications Commission, Department of Commerce, U.S. Defense Department and State Department. The course examines existing regulations and statutes as well as current discussions about changes to policy and law to address the evolving nature of the space industry and U.S. national space priorities. Examples include the Space Force, space traffic management, and oversight of non-traditional commercial activities in light of international treaty obligations.

This course explores the development of law (domestic and international) governing space operations generally, application of the law to present day national security activities, and emerging issues in national security space law. The course addresses the impact of the UN space treaties to national security activities, international and domestic law governing national security space operations, the role of commercial space actors in conflict, and current issues in national security space law. It will also consider U.S. strategic competitors’ (Russia and China) approaches to the law of space operations.

This seminar addresses the international and domestic laws governing outer space. Class discussion includes issues such as: liability for damage caused by space objects, use of outer space resources, rescue of astronauts and return of objects launched into outer space, environmental issues in outer space, and other more specific topics such as NASA and the International Space Station, commercial space operations, U.S. Government agencies involved in outer space, and the role of the United Nations in outer space.