Space Commerce Conference

Sunday, October 27th, 2013

Professor Sa’id Mosteshar, ISPL Director, and ISPL Faculty member Tanja Masson-Zwaan will address the International Space Commerce 2013 Summit in London on 29 October 2013. 

Tanja is President of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL) and Deputy Director of the International Institute of Air and Space Law, Leiden Law School.  She will speak about regulation of small satellite under international and national space law.  Her presentation will cover the following areas.

• Benefits and concerns of small satellites
• International space law applicable to small satellites
• Tendencies in national regulation of small satellites, with a focus on Europe
• Considerations in the UN and ITU

Prospects for adequate regulation of small satellites 

Sa’id will present Managing conflict – The laws and regulations of commercial participation in space.  He will discuss the following topics.

• Understanding the existing regulations and how to comply
• Translating policy into regulations and legal instruments
• Exploring issues surrounding security and access in the commercial use of space
• Looking at future legal frameworks 

For more information about the conference including sponsors and other speakers, download the agenda here.

ISPL Congratulates The Winner of the 2013 Lachs Moot

Wednesday, October 23rd, 2013

The 2013 Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition was won by the team from Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA. The International Institute of Air and Space Law, Leiden University, the Netherlands was runner-up. Semi-finalists were the University of Pretoria, South Africa and National Law University (Delhi), India.

ISPL congratulates the members of these teams, their supporters and sponsors, as well as the other teams that competed.  “The Lachs Moot is a tremendous challenge for students of space law, and the quality of the entrants is always extremely high.  The competing teams deserve considerable praise for their dedication and hard work.” 

The World Finals were held at the Beijing Institute of Technology Law School, Beijing, China on 26 September 2013. Total participating universities numbered 60 from four regions. The 2013 problem was the Case Concerning the Operation of a Lunar Station (Lydios v Endymion), written by Professor Setsuko Aoki, Japan.

For more information about the awards, past and present, including the names of this year’s top teams and judges, see the IISL website.

For those considering entering the competition, the problem has been set for the 2014 Moot.

ISPL Faculty Member to Judge Google Lunar XPrize

Tuesday, October 8th, 2013

Derek Webber will be one of the eight judges of the Google Lunar XPrize.  With a long and distinguished career in the space sector, Derek is an expert in space tourism, and an ISPL faculty member.  Derek is the author of ‘The Wright Stuff – The Century of Effort Behind your Ticket to Space.’

The prize will be awarded for the safe landing of a man on the moon for the first time since 1973. A private company must safely land, travel 500 meters above, below or on the lunar surface, and send back two broadcasts to Earth.

In addition, there will be Bonus Prizes for achievements such as surviving the lunar night or exploring lunar artefacts. These Prizes may win prize money in advance by completing terrestrial or space milestones. The deadline for the competition is 31 December 2015.

The Google XPrize follows the Ansari XPrize of 2004 for the achievement of regular sub-orbital flight, and the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander XChallenge, whose prize money was claimed in 2009.

David Swanson will Chair the judging panel, which includes Professor Alan Wells, Professor John Zarnecki, Dr Charles Reynerson, Dr Derek Lang, John Jay Kurtz. Elisabeth Morse is Vice Chairwoman. The panel will review technical achievement, launches and prize awarding for the competition.

For more information about the judges and the competition, including who will compete and how they intend to achieve their goals, see the Google XPrize website.