Commercialisation of Space

Tuesday, January 20th, 2015

Commercialisation of Space: Opportunities and Challenges is a wide-ranging and valuable record of a conference of the same name, co-edited by two distinguished friends of ISPL. Professor Ram Jakhu, of McGill University’s Institute of Air and Space Law (IASL), is a Member of our Faculty, and we were pleased to collaborate on the conference with Professor Bhupendra Jasani of King’s College London’s Department of War Studies.

The conference was organized by KCL and held there on 24-25 January 2014, in collaboration with IASL and the London Institute of Space Policy and Law (ISPL).

The collaborative effort was generously funded by the Erin J C Arsenault Fund of McGill University.  The book is published this month by Pentagon Press as a joint publication of KCL, IASL and NIAS, the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bangalore.

Participants in the conference who have also contributed articles include experts from a number of space sector companies, and representatives of regional and specialist groups, government and academia.  Our Director Professor Sa’id Mosteshar contributed to the book, as did Sir Martin Sweeting, an ISPL Trustee, and Professor Paul Stephen Dempsey of IASL, who is also an ISPL Faculty Member.

The publication means that those unable to attend the conference will be able to explore 19 articles based on the material presented, along with powerpoint slides from two further presentations.  In addition to valuable overviews, the articles cover a wide range of matters including competition, risk and commerce, tourism and debris as well as legal and ethical issues.  An appended selection of outer space treaties, resolutions and codes will be useful for those wishing to refer to them.

Copies of the book may be ordered through Pentagon Press.