After an incredibly immersive, stimulating, and rewarding week, IAC2024 has almost come to an end. Looking back, it is all a blur - I feel I will need a few weeks after today to fully process all that has happened.
Long post below.
Today, October 18th, I had the opportunity to present my research on outer space, its designation as environment, state regulation, and protection of foreign investments in the space sector at an International Institute of Space Law (IISL) Colloquium session on "Regional Space Legislation". I shared some reflections on how outer space regulation and policy-making interact and affect foreign investments, and what kinds of legal issues might arise in the future as a result of this interaction.
I had the immense privilege of sharing the session with brilliant colleagues, such as Maria Elena De Maestri, Arnold Agaba, Andrea Harrington, Xiaoya Lin, Irina Chernykh, Tao Zhang, Elie Badawi, Theodora Liameti, Sindhu S., Frans von der Dunk, and Claudiu Mihai Tăiatu. My sincere thanks to our fantastic panel chairs, Guoyu Wang and Bernhard Schmidt-Tedd - as well as our great session rapporteur, Katharina P..
In the afternoon, the Moon Village Association held two fantastic sessions. First of them was an information session entitled "MVA meets IAC", where MVA announced a new project entitled '#MoonforEarth' - a collaborative, multidisciplinary, multi-stakeholder project promoting a unified understanding of the #Lunar and #Earth environments.
The session also delved into the upcoming 8th Moon Village Workshop on December 2nd and 3rd, co-organized with Luxembourg Space Agency. A reminder that the call for presentations runs until October 23rd across all disciplines (including Law and Policy!).
The second meeting was the Global Expert Group on Sustainable Lunar Activities (GEGSLA) session, where GEGSLA took stock of the amazing work of its Working Groups on Lunar Environmental Protection (WGI), Lunar Technical Coordination (WGII), and Lunar Multistakeholder Coordination (WGIII).
This incredible week will come full circle tonight, with the fabled IAC Gala Dinner. I allowed myself a day tomorrow to wind down and see a little bit of #Milano, a city close to my heart. Then, I return to Luxembourg, and continue working on exciting future projects in the weeks, months, and years to come.
My deep gratitude and congratulations to International Astronautical Federation, International Institute of Space Law (IISL), and AIDAA - The Italian Association of Aeronautics and Astronautics for this fantastic week. I cannot wait until I (hopefully) get to go to #IAC2025 in Sydney, and (definitely) to IAC2026Antalya!
#Space #Law #Sustainability #IAC2024
Université du Luxembourg Luxembourg Centre for European Law (LCEL) - University of Luxembourg Woud Law Firm Academy of International Affairs NRW Özgür Ünüvar Bakiler Attorney Partnership