Policy and Law

Signed on 4 August 2020 by the Minister of the Economy Franz Fayot, Chairman of the Board of LIST Jacques Lanners, and CEO of LIST Thomas Kallstenius, the agreement paves the way for cooperation between LSA and LIST to implement the national component of this initiative until the European Space Agency (ESA) joins the project in turn as a strategic partner as provided in the Memorandum of Cooperation in the field of Space Resources signed by Luxembourg and ESA (Space19 +) during the ESA meeting of the ministerial council in November 2019 in Seville.

In this week’s Space Cafè WebTalk, Christopher Johnson, Space Law Advisor at the Secure World Foundation talked about issues of developing the next phase of governance for space activities.

As part of the partnership between SpaceWatch.Global and Project Plougshares, we have been granted permission to publish selected articles and texts. This is Part 2 of “Did Russia Test a Weapon in Space? What the question and the answer tell us about the security of outer space”, originally published 30 July 2020 in Ploughshares Spotlight, July 2020.

As part of the partnership between SpaceWatch.Global and Project Plougshares, we have been granted permission to publish selected articles and texts. This is Part 1 of “Did Russia Test a Weapon in Space? What the question and the answer tell us about the security of outer space”, originally published 30 July 2020 in Ploughshares Spotlight, July 2020.

The Austrian Space Forum (OeWF) announced the postponement of its international Mars analog mission “AMADEE-20”. The simulation of a crewed mission to the Red Planet was originally scheduled to take place later this year in October in Israel.

SpaceWatch.Global is pleased to present the 8th episode in our podcast series The Space Cafe Podcast: Michelle Hanlon, The legal loophole to remove the American flags on the Moon

A project office of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, UNOOSA, to be opened in Abu Dhabi later this year, will develop a database of space-based solutions to help achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, according to a top official.

Specialists in space security constantly call for more robust norms of behaviour in outer space. As the number of users and uses of space grows, the calls get louder and more urgent. Meanwhile, many states claim to want the same thing. Canada’s national defence policy, “Strong, Secure, Engaged,” for example, aims to “provide leadership in shaping international norms f

by Kiran Mohan Vazhapully Artist’s impression of the Gateway and Orion. The Gateway is the next structure to be launched by the partners of the International Space Station. Image courtesy of NASA.Last month, based on a Reuters report, Chris Borgen wrote in Opinio Juris about the White House chalking out details of a United States (US) sponsored international framework dubbed “Artemis Accords”,  to facilitate commercial mining on the Moon. They are conceived as inter-agency bilateral agreements similar to the International Space Station Intergovernmental Agreement (ISS-IGA).

The first ever launch into space from British soil is one step closer today (29 July 2020) as Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announces a public consultation on the regulations for the UK’s spaceflight programme.