February - March 2020 Newsletter of the International Institute of Space Law

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February-March 2020 Newsletter

Contents

Virtual Meeting of the Board of Directors
News and Announcements
IISL 60 Years Logo Competition - Winner Announced
IISL Board Election 2020 - Call for Candidates
Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition 2020 - Updates
A “Thank you!” to Jean-Yves Le Gall
Congratulations to the IISL Treasurer on his New Position
Member News

Virtual Meeting of the Board of Directors

In its very first virtual meeting on 22 March 2020, the IISL Board of Directors (BoD) sent a signal of capacity to act in times of the COVID-19 crisis. The BoD had planned to meet alongside the UNCOPUOS Legal Subcommittee in Vienna but had to schedule a virtual meeting organised and prepared by the Executive Secretary Diane Howard. With participation of a large majority of the Board members, chaired by the President Kai-Uwe Schrogl, decisions were taken on new members, the Institute’s awards, the conduct and planning of IAC Colloquia in 2020 and 2021 as well the selection of the 60th anniversary logo. Furthermore, the procedure of the Manfred Lachs Moot Court Competition was discussed and exchanges on the activities of Committees and events of the Institute were conducted. More information on the outcomes of the BoD meeting will be communicated on the IISL website and in the IISL Newsletter.

NEWS and ANNOUNCEMENTS

Eleven International Publishing, the publisher of our annual IISL Proceedings, has prepared a special offer to UNCOPUOS Legal Subcommittee delegates. We are grateful that this special offer is now extended to IISL Members.

For the books in the field of air and space law to which this special offer applies, please consult the leaflet https://bit.ly/2WVBEwz.

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International Symposium on Maintaining the Rule of Law in Outer Space in an Age of Rapid Innovation taking place in Fuzhou, China is postponed to September 19-20, 2020. The Symposium is co-organised by the International Institute of Space Law, Chinese Society of Astronautics, China Institute of Space Law and Space Law Center of China National Space Administration, and held in conjunction with 2020 China Space Conference.

The working language will be English. The abstract should be word format with 800 words in A4 paper type, written in the order of title, author’s name, affiliation, address, e-mail address, key words, abstract text. Please submit your abstract to: csajournal@163.com. Subject of your email should be IISL + the title of your abstract.

Proposed topics:
- Challenges and responses to the long-term sustainable development in outer space including legal aspects of debris mitigation, debris removal, space traffic management and frequency management;
- Legal challenges of new technologies and space activities as LEO mega-constellations, space resources utilization or satellite servicing;
- Maintenance of security and safety in outer space in view of the principle of peaceful uses;
- Roles and responsibilities of governments as well as of international organisations for maintaining the rule of law in outer space;
- Development of an international legal framework for the global space economy.

New deadlines:

Abstracts due by 15 May 2020
Author Notification by 31 May 2020
Papers due by 31 July 2020
Early Registration by 20 August 2020
Registration by 15 April 2020

For more info, please follow the link: https://bit.ly/2X5X4af

IISL 60 Years Logo Competition -
Winner Announced

The IISL is pleased to announce Katarina Eriksson as the winner of the competition to design a logo to celebrate our 60-year anniversary.

Katarina is a Swedish architect and graphic designer whose work focuses on space and science. She has a Masters in Architecture from Lund University and an MSc in Space Studies from the International Space University and runs her design company, Märka Design, out of Lund, Sweden.

We asked Katarina to share her inspiration for the logo. She designed it around the original IISL logo, incorporating it in the design, and using the same colours and starry sky theme. It represents both space and law in a clean and minimalistic style, using clear and visible text.

The constellation Libra is subtly featured among the stars. This symbolizes law. The constellation Libra has long been associated with law, fairness and civility since the days of ancient Rome. It represents the scales held by Astraea, the goddess of justice, associated with Virgo in the Greek mythology. [https://bit.ly/39vXVni]

Katarina also designs tee shirts featuring space-related graphics which can be viewed at her website: http://www.markadesign.se

IISL Board Election 2020 - Call for Candidates

The IISL Election Committee, currently comprising José Monserrat Filho (Chair), George D. Kyriakopoulos and Leslie I. Tennen invites you to take part in the 2020 IISL Board Elections.

All IISL Members are entitled to put themselves forward for the following elected positions on the Board: Vice-President (two positions), Executive Secretary (one position), Treasurer (one position) and Directors (three positions). The names of the IISL Board members whose term of office expires this year are:

Vice-Presidents:
K.R. Sridhara Murthi
Setsuko Aoki

Executive Secretary:
Diane Howard

Treasurer:
Dennis J. Burnett

Directors:
Frans G. von der Dunk
Stephan Hobe
Mahulena Hofmann

A candidate is to be nominated by an IISL Member in good standing and supported by five IISL Members in good standing, and must confirm that he / she agrees to be nominated. For further details please refer to the full terms of the IISL Statutes and By-Laws, available at https://bit.ly/3bBJ8sD.

Procedure:

The candidates for the IISL Board positions are to submit ONLINE a Nomination Form. For your candidacy to be considered, please make sure that TWO FORMS are duly submitted (one by YOU and another one by YOUR NOMINATOR):

For the Nominee: https://bit.ly/2UtHX8X
For the Nominator: https://bit.ly/2xxrrf3

Please note that there is no save and edit later function, therefore you have to allocate enough time for filling it out. We would recommend you to have the text ready in word and copy paste it to the online form. Prior to this, you have to get confirmations from the nominator and five supporters (as you will be asked to specify the date on which the consent has been given).

In accordance with the IISL Statutes and By-Laws the Election Committee is authorized to draw up the list of qualifying candidates, supervise the election process, and count the votes.

Voting shall take place between June 15 and July 15, 2020.

Please note that there is only one vote per institutional member, and the IISL Election Committee must be notified as soon as possible (and definitely prior to voting) as to who is the designated Point of Contact (POC).

Please also note that while not formally prohibited to nominate / support, the Committee suggests that for ethical reasons, members who stand for election should abstain from nominating / supporting other candidates.

We kindly remind you that nominations received after May 15, 2020 cannot be considered.

With best regards,
The IISL Election Committee
José Monserrat Filho (Chair)
George D. Kyriakopoulos
Leslie I. Tennen

Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition 2020 - Updates

COVID-19 Update:

Due to the public health situation world-wide, all Regional competitions have made changes to schedules and processes. It is important to check frequently the information on the website for your Regional competition https://bit.ly/3bFrBzW.

A “Thank You!” to Jean-Yves Le Gall

At the occasion of the (telco) spring meetings of the three associations, it was regarded as a perfect opportunity to express the appreciation of IISL to Jean-Yves Le Gall, who has handed over the Presidency of IAF at the end of last year’s International Astronautical Congress. Jean-Yves Le Gall has been during his term as IAF President a particularly strong supporter of the cooperation between IAF, IAA and IISL. IISL President Kai-Uwe Schrogl acknowledged Jean-Yves Le Gall’s and the IAF Secretariat’s spirit and actions in the joint partnership. IISL looks forward to a continued close cooperation with Jean-Yves Le Gall in his new function as IAF Honorary Ambassador. The photo shows the Presidents of the three organisations at last year’s spring meeting with, from right, Jean-Yves Le Gall (IAF), Peter Jankowitsch (IAA) and Kai-Uwe Schrogl (IISL).

Congratulations to the IISL Treasurer on his New Position

IISL would like to congratulate its Treasurer Dennis Burnett who has joined the HawkEye 360 Inc., the first commercial company to use formation flying satellites to create a new class of radio frequency (RF) data and data analytics, as Executive Vice President (EVP) and General Counsel.

“Dennis has molded legal strategy for many complex technologies and space-based solutions,” said John Serafini, CEO, HawkEye 360. “His insight will prove invaluable as HawkEye 360 continues to break new ground providing commercial RF signal data and data analytics from space.”

Previously, Burnett served as Consulting Principal at LMI Advisors; Chief Counsel of Regulatory and Government Affairs at Kymeta Corporation; and as Vice President of Trade Policy and Export Control for EADS North America. Burnett also currently serves as the Chair of the Space, Cyber and Telecommunications Advisory Board for the University of Nebraska College of Law.

To read more on his appointment, please follow the links: https://bit.ly/2Uv8T8h and https://bit.ly/2wRgWTJ.

MEMBER NEWS

Diane Howard, IISL Executive Secretary, gave a talk on “Urgent need” for SSA Funding at Department of Commerce. For more info, please refer to the SpacePolicyOnline feature https://bit.ly/3480QBp.

The record of Howard’s talk is available following the link: https://bit.ly/2WSD0br.

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IISL President Emerita Tanja Masson-Zwaan, Board member Mahulena Hofmann, members Olavo de O. Bittencourt Neto and Dimitra Stefoudi edited the Commentary on Building Blocks for the Development of an International Framework for the Governance of Space Resource Activities.

This book provides a unique and comprehensive coverage of the work of The Hague International Space Resources Governance Group, established in 2016 with the purpose of assessing the need and laying the groundwork for such a framework. The Commentary contains the text, explanation, legal basis and alternatives discussed for each of the 20 Building Blocks that were adopted by the Working Group in 2019 and that could potentially form part of a future governance framework for space resource activities.

The book is a useful reference tool for States, international organisations, industry, space agencies, scientists, academics and students in space law and policy interested in this new era of use and exploration of outer space.

Hard copies of this book can be ordered at 39 Euros each at https://bit.ly/2QYJd1J. It will also be available as an Open Access source via that link.

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IISL Board member Steven Freeland was interviewed on 'The Science Show' on ABC Radio National in Australia about plans by a Russian company to use a fleet of small satellites to create advertising images in space that would be visible to the naked eye on Earth (please note his credentials are mis-described by the presenter). The United States has domestic law regarding advertising in space, but there is little elsewhere that deals with the specific issue. The interview can be found at: https://ab.co/3bFvWDe. Freeland has also been interviewed about the international rules that may relate to proposals to eventually undertake possible future space mining - a complex issue not just from a legal perspective but also politically, culturally, economically and scientifically - not to mention the very significant technical challenges. The interview is at: https://bit.ly/2WVU5RH.

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IISL member Chris Johnson published a chapter on legal aspects of megaconstellations "The Legal Status of MegaLEO Constellations and Concerns About Appropriation of Large Swaths of Earth Orbit" https://bit.ly/2WWCgSp. To access the entire book please follow the link https://bit.ly/2R0L0TR.

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Members, please send your

member news to: secretary@iislweb.org

Remember you can make a donation to the IISL
through the PayPal button on the IISL Website.

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