Policy and Law

Following a string of high-profile incidents, failures, and corruption scandals and allegations, Russia’s state space corporation, Roscosmos, has hit back at its Russian and international critics in a bizarre claim that criticism of the struggling space programme is an “information attack” designed to discredit Roscosmos and its efforts at reforming …

A senior U.S. space official has told SpaceWatch.Global of the Trump administration’s concern that Chinese commercial and trade practices are distorting the international commercial space market, and that the U.S. does not envision any form of space cooperation with China as a result. In a wide-ranging interview with SpaceWatch.Global, Dr. …

Nine U.S. companies are nows eligible to bid on NASA delivery services to the lunar surface through Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contracts, as one of the first steps toward long-term scientific study and human exploration of the Moon and eventually Mars. These companies will be able to bid on …

The United States National Space Council was re-established by President Donald J. Trump in 2017 after ceasing operations in 1993. The Council works to develop a strategy for national space activities and also to foster co-operation with other countries and space agencies in order to advance the U.S. space agenda …

Britain has officially withdrawn from the European Union’s (EU) Galileo Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) because of fears that the UK will have no influence over the technological and policy direction of the satellite project after the country leaves the EU early in 2019. The decision reflects one of the …

The United States National Space Council was re-established by President Donald J. Trump in 2017 after ceasing operations in 1993. The Council works to develop a strategy for national space activities and also to foster co-operation with other countries and space agencies in order to advance the U.S. space agenda …

Editor’s Note: SpaceWatch.Global is proud to welcome Blaine Curcio and Tianyi Lan as guest columnists on China’s commercial and New Space scene. Today we publish their first monthly column.  By Blaine Curcio and Tianyi Lan The China Commercial Aerospace Forum (CCAF) 2018, held in Wuhan in late September, was significant for …

The Russian state space corporation, Roscosmos, has announced its intention to build a constellation of satellites called Marathon to serve the expanding Internet of Things (IoT) market, as part of its Sphere satellite system. The announcement comes amidst an audit into Roscosmos over missing billions of rubles, as well as …

China and Myanmar held their first science and technology cooperation meeting in Yangon, where they established a joint radar and satellite communications laboratory as part of the nascent China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, a part of the Chinese-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This meeting marks a new stage in science and …

Saadia Pekkanen, University of Washington As an international relations scholar who studies space law and policy, I have come to realize what most people do not fully appreciate: Dealing with space debris is as much a national security issue as it is a technical one. Considering the debris circling the …