Course Lecturers

The Strategic Space Law is taught by experts and scholars who are recognised for their expertise in space law and strategic uses of outer space.

Course convener:

Course lecturers:

Course Coordinator:

  • Kuan-Wei Chen (McGill University, Canada)


Roy Balleste

Roy Balleste is Director of the Dolly & Homer Hand Law Library. He has been working in law libraries for twenty years and in administration for fifteen years. Professor Balleste completed his doctorate degree (J.S.D.) in Intercultural Human Rights, analyzing internet governance policy, including its history, actors, and institutions. While completing the LL.M. at the Institute of Air and Space Law, McGill University, Balleste researched and wrote about the crossroads of cybersecurity, rules of engagement and space Law. He was the 2017 recipient of the Nicolas Mateesco Matte Space Law Prize. Professor Balleste is a member of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL), including its Cyberspace Law Working Group.

Professor Balleste teaches cyberlaw and cybersecurity law and policy. He has concentrated his scholarship and advocacy in the areas associated with the regulatory structure of the Internet, cybersecurity, outer space law, and cybersecurity in outer space. In November of 2017, Balleste participated at the United Nations High-level Forum on Space as a driver for socio-economic sustainable development. In his presentation, Balleste addressed the connection of cybersecurity and satellite communications. Balleste also participated in the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (UN IGF) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2007 and Vilnius, Lithuania 2010. In October of 2012, Balleste participated—at the invitation of the U.S. Air Force Research Institute—in the second cyberpower conference at the Maxwell’s Officer Training School.

Professor Balleste is a member of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ Noncommercial Users Stakeholder Group (ICANN-NCSG) and the Noncommercial Users Constituency (NCUC) of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO). In 2015, Roman and Littlefield published two of his books: Internet Governance: Origins, Current Issues, and Future Possibilities, and Cybersecurity: Human Rights in the Age of Cyberveillance. He also published Law Librarianship in the Twenty-first century in 2013 (Rowman & Littlefield, Second Edition, first edition 2007).

Most recently, Balleste earned a certificate in cybersecurity (the intersection of policy and technology) from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Executive Education and a certificate in blockchain strategy from the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.


Jack Beard

Professor Jack Beard joined the law faculty in 2011. Before coming to Nebraska, he was a member of the faculty at the UCLA School of Law. He previously served for fourteen years as the Associate Deputy General Counsel (International Affairs) in the Department of Defense where he was responsible for a variety of legal matters related to arms control agreements, defense cooperation and basing agreements in the Middle East region, and programs assisting states of the former Soviet Union in dismantlement of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and other non-proliferation activities. These latter activities included the removal of nuclear weapons from Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine and the elimination of other WMDs and related infrastructure in those countries. He served as the senior lawyer on numerous U.S. delegations negotiating international agreements on a wide range of U.S. military operations and activities. He also served on active and reserve duty as an officer in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, where his assignments included Chief of the International Law Section, International and Operational Law Division, Office of The Judge Advocate General of the Army. He is a Lieutenant Colonel in U.S. Army JAG Corps (Retired).

Professor Beard is a Director of the Space, Cyber and Telecom Law Program, teaching courses in International Cyber Security and National Security Space Law. He also teaches courses in National Security Law, Arms Control, and Human Rights & International Criminal Law. His primary research interests focus on public international law and national security law, with a particular emphasis upon space law and military uses of space, cyber capabilities, arms control, the law of armed conflict, and the international legal implications of modern military technologies. He was recognized as a Cyber Security & Data Privacy Trailblazer by the National Law Journal.

Professor Beard is the Editor-in-Chief of the Woomera Manual on the International Law of Military Space Activities and Operations (Oxford University Publishing, forthcoming 2023). Professor Beard is the Chairman of the Committee on the Use of Force of the American Branch of the International Law Association (ABILA), a member of the ABILA Board of Directors, and is one of the U.S. representatives on the London-based International Law Association’s Committee on the Use of Force. He is also a member of the International Institute of Space Law.


Bleddyn Bowen

Dr Bleddyn Bowen is an expert in space policy and international relations in outer space. He has published research on strategic thinking and outer space, UK and EU space policy, UK and US military space doctrines, and the politics of orbital debris. Based on the classic works of military theory, his research challenges prevailing thought in military and civilian space communities and offers practical policy relevant insights for the space sector at the intersection of politics, military power, security, and technology.


Building on his expertise in the politics of outer space and the impact of space technologies on warfare, national security, and international relations, Dr Bowen has published several journal articles and a monograph on the military, security, and political dimensions of outer space. He can offer expert insights on military and intelligence space activities, governance issues in outer space, space arms control, and the international political dimensions of space exploration.


Gilles Doucet

Gilles Doucet is an independent space security consultant, President of Spectrum Space Security Inc. and technical consultant for ABH Aerospace LLC.

Doucet’s consultancy focuses on the convergence of satellite technology, military space applications, space governance and international space security cooperation. Services encompass space security research, policy advice, education and training.

Mr Doucet is the Technical Lead for the “Manual of International Law Applicable to Military Use of Outer Space” (MILAMOS) international space law project, a member of the Legal Advisory Council of For All Moonkind and a member of the International Institute of Space Law. Doucet is also visiting faculty to the Cybersecurity LLM program at St Thomas University School of Law, in Miami, Florida, instructing in Satellite and Space Security.

Prior to founding Spectrum Security Inc. Mr Doucet spent 35 years as a research scientist with the Canadian Department of National Defence conducting studies and assessments on space technology, military applications, and advising on space policy, international cooperation and defence diplomacy.

Mr Doucet’s education includes Bachelors and Masters degrees in Engineering from Ottawa University and a Graduate Certificate in Air and Space Law from McGill’s Institute of Air and Space Law.


Stuart Eves

Stuart Eves has recently founded his own space consultancy company, SJE Space, after spending 14 years with Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) and 16 years with the UK Ministry Of Defence.

During his time with the MOD, Stuart initiated the TopSat satellite programme, which established a new world record for “resolution per mass of satellite”, and previously formed part of the space gallery at the Science Museum in London.

He has recently published Space Traffic Control, a book which describes the measures needed to maintain the space environment and protect satellites from both natural hazards and man-made threats such as space debris.

Stuart has an MSc in Astrophysics, a PhD in constellation design, and has been a fellow of both the Royal Astronomical Society and the British Interplanetary Society for more than 25 years. He takes an active interest in all things space.


Steven Freeland

Professor Steven Freeland (BCOM, LLB, LLM, PHD) is a Co-Founder and Principal at Azimuth Advisory, and is Emeritus Professor at Western Sydney University, where he was previously the Dean of the School of Law, and Professorial Fellow at Bond University. He also has honorary Adjunct or Visiting Appointments at the University of Vienna; the iCourts Centre of Excellence for International Courts, University of Copenhagen; the University of Hong Kong; the London Institute of Space Policy and Law; Université Toulouse1 Capitole; the Centre for Research in Air and Space Law, McGill University; the Outer Space Institute, University of British Columbia; Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, a Marie Curie Fellow (2013-2014), an expert assessor for Government Research Councils in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, South Africa, The Netherlands and the United States, and has taught various aspects of International Law in over 20 countries. Prior to becoming an academic, he had a 20-year career as an international commercial lawyer and investment banker.

He has represented the Australian Government at various United Nations Committee Meetings, and advised the Australian, New Zealand, Norwegian and several other Governments on issues related to the national and international regulation of space activities and the development of a national space-industry strategy. He has been appointed by the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS) as Vice-Chair of a 5 year Working Group addressing issues regarding the exploration, exploitation and utilization of space resources, and by the Australian Government as a Member of the Australian Space Agency Advisory Board. Among other appointments, he is a Director of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL); a member of the Space Law Committee of the International Law Association (ILA); and a member of both the Space Law Committee and War Crimes Committee of the International Bar Association (IBA). He has also been a Visiting Professional within the Appeals Chamber at the International Criminal Court (ICC), and a Special Advisor to the Danish Foreign Ministry in matters related to the ICC.

He sits on the Editorial Board of the Canada-based Annals of Air and Space Law, the German-based German Journal of Air and Space Law, the China-based Space Law Review, the London-based ROOM Space Journal, the Oxford Research Encyclopaedia of Planetary Science, the Russian-based Space Law Research and on the Advisory Board of a series of books entitled Studies in Space Law. He is also Co-Editor of Annotated Leading Cases of International Criminal Tribunals, a series of casebooks annotating the jurisprudence of the International Criminal Court, the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda, the Special Court for Sierra Leone, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and the Special Panels for Serious Crimes in East Timor.

He has authored approximately 300 publications on various aspects of International Law and has been invited to present over 1800 expert commentaries by national and international media outlets worldwide on a wide range of legal and geopolitical issues. He has been invited to present conference papers. presentations and keynote speeches in Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Denmark, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, The Philippines, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam.


Brian Green

Major Brian D. Green is an instructor in the Operations and International Law Division at the Air Force Judge Advocate General’s School (AFJAGS), Maxwell Air Force Base (AFB), Alabama, where he has served since July 2017. He provides basic and advanced legal instruction to U.S. and allied military and civilian attorneys, paralegals, and other officers from around the world through AFJAGS and Air University courses. Along with fellow McGill alumna Dr. Andrea Harrington, he helped coach the first Air Command and Staff College team at the 2019 Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court competition, where the team became semi-finalists and won the Best New Team award.

Major Green deployed in 2018 as a Deputy Legal Advisor at the Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) for U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM), where he provided operational legal advice for coalition multi-domain contingency operations and plans across the 20 countries within USCENTCOM’s area of responsibility, including Operations INHERENT RESOLVE and FREEDOM’S SENTINEL. He deployed to Baghdad in 2007 as part of the detainee operations task force for Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.

In his most recent prior assignment, Major Green was the Chief of Space and International Law for Fourteenth Air Force (14 AF) at Vandenberg AFB, California. There, he provided legal advice to the dual-hatted commander of 14 AF and U.S. Strategic Command’s Joint Functional Component Command for Space (JFCC SPACE), staffs, and subordinate units. Major Green has also served tours in the base legal offices at Grand Forks and Lackland; represented hundreds of Airmen as a disability attorney before formal physical evaluation boards; and led the team of medical law consultants for the Texas-New Mexico region.

Major Green has written papers and articles on topics such as space situational awareness data sharing, space traffic management, and space weapons. He has also edited articles for MILAMOS and the Air Force Law Review. He has an LL.M. degree in Air and Space Law from McGill University (2015), a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law (2004), and B.A. degrees in Political Science and Interdisciplinary Visual Arts from the University of Washington (2001).


Andrea Harrington

Prof. Andrea Harrington currently serves as the Co-Director of the Institute of Air and Space Law and Associate Professor in the McGill Faculty of Law. She is a member of the editorial board for the McGill Annals of Air and Space Law, New Space, and the American Bar Association publication The Air and Space Lawyer as well as providing peer review for numerous other publications including Acta Astronautica and Space Policy. Among other publications, she is the author of the book “Space Insurance and the Law: Maximizing Private Activities in Outer Space,” which won the British Insurance Law Association Book Prize for 2022. Prof. Harrington is a licensed attorney in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She also teaches in the Space Resources Program for the Colorado School of Mines. Her current research focuses on the use of the principle of due regard in space law and international law.

Prof. Harrington previously served as Dean of Space Education at Air University for the United States Space Force (USSF), where she was responsible for overseeing the West Space Seminar and Schriever Space Scholars, as well as leading Guardian Education development efforts for USSF Space Delta 13. In that role, she led the establishment of ground-breaking USSF academic programs in Washington DC through Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Prior to that role, she served as Chair of the Department of Spacepower and Director of the Schriever Space Scholars concentration at Air Command and Staff College, where she was a Full Professor of Military and Security Studies. There she taught International Space Law and Policy, International Security, and Science Fiction & Military Culture. Before that Prof. Harrington served as the Associate Director of the Air and Space Law Programs at the University of Mississippi, where she taught International Space Law, US Domestic Space Law, International Private Air Law, US National Aviation Law, and Remote Sensing Law. She has been Associate Chair for the Policy, Economics, and Law Department for the International Space University’s 2018 Space Studies Program, Jr. Project Manager for Secure World Foundation, and researcher on projects for the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation, the International Society for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and the Space Security Index.

Prof. Harrington was an Erin J.C. Arsenault Fellow in Space Governance at the McGill University Institute of Air and Space Law (IASL), where her doctoral research focused on insurance and liability issues for the commercial space industry. Prof. Harrington holds a DCL and LLM from the McGill IASL, as well as a JD with High Honors from the University of Connecticut School of Law, an MSc in European Politics and Governance from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a BA in International Relations and History from Boston University (Magna Cum Laude). Prior to transitioning to air and space law, she was active in the insurance and financial compliance fields.


Deborah Housen-Couriel

Deborah is the Chief Legal Officer and VP Regulation for Konfidas Digital, a leading Israeli cybersecurity and data protection consulting firm, advising on high-level strategies for legal planning and regulatory compliance in the areas of corporate governance, preparedness, data protection and cybercrime. Her expertise focuses on global and Israeli cybersecurity law and regulation. Deborah’s experience at the international level includes her current service as Chair of Working Group D of the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise, as a Core Expert on the Manual on International Law Applicable to Military Uses of Outer Space (MILAMOS) project, and as a member of two of the GCSC’s Research Advisory Groups. She was a member of the International Group of Experts that drafted the 2017 Tallinn 2.0 manual on state activity in cyberspace.

Deborah is an advisory board member of the Hebrew University Cyber Security Research Center; and a research fellow at the Minerva Center for the Rule of Law under Extreme Conditions; IDC Herzliya’s Institute for Counter-Terrorism; and the Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center at Tel Aviv University. She teaches courses on cybersecurity law and regulation at the Law School of Hebrew University and at the Herzliya IDC, and has served as a guest lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Exec Ed Program on Cybersecurity: The Intersection of Policy and Technology. In 2010-11, Deborah co-chaired the Regulation and Policy Committee of the National Cyber Initiative launched by the Prime Minister’s Office; and in 2013-4 was as a member of the National Cyber Bureau’s Public Committee on the Cyber Professions. She is currently researching regulatory models for government-private sector information sharing to mitigate cyber threats.


Ram Jakhu

Dr. Ram Jakhu holds a tenured position of Associate Professor at the Institute of Air and Space Law, Faculty of Law, McGill University. He is also the (Acting) Director of the Institute of Air and Space Law and of the Centre for Research in Air and Space Law of McGill University. He teaches and conducts research in international space law, law of space applications, law of space commercialization, space safety and security, national regulation of space activities, law of telecommunications, and public international law.

He has taught Space Law and Policy in several countries; made presentations to the United Nations Committee of Peaceful Uses of Outer Space; participated in the drafting of Space Law Curriculum for the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs; advised several countries in the preparation of national laws and policies, including National Space Law and Policy for South Africa and India; convened and participated numerous international interdisciplinary space law and policy related conferences and workshops around the world; and currently heads a multi-million dollars research and outreach program for space law and policy.

Professor Jakhu is a Member of the Global Agenda Council on Space of the World Economic Forum; the Governance Group of the Space Security Index; and Fellow as well as the Chairman of the Legal and Regulatory Committee of the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety. He is Managing Editor of the Space Regulatory Series, member of the Editorial Boards of Space and Evolution, Annals of Air & Space Law, Astropolitics, and German Journal of Air & Space Law. He has co-authored two books, over 80 articles and 20 research reports and edited 6 books.

He was member of the Advisor Group of Legal Experts on Optional Rules for Arbitration of Disputes Relating to Outer Space within the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and the Board of Directors of International Institute of Space Law for 14 years. In 2007, he received a "Distinguished Service Award" from the International Institute of Space Law for significant contribution to the development of space law.

Ram Jakhu holds Doctor of Civil Law (Dean's Honors List) and Master of Law (LL.M.) degrees from McGill University, Canada as well as LL.M., LL.B., and B.A. degrees from Panjab University, India.


Donna Lawler

Donna Lawler is a Co-Founder and Principal at Azimuth Advisory and is a member of the International Institute of Space Lawyers. She is an experienced commercial lawyer specialising in complex transactions in the space and telecommunications industries. Over almost twenty years in the satellite industry she has been an advisor to a range of commercial space organisations, including operators of cubesats, established operators of geo-stationary satellites and launch services providers. In particular, she has had key involvement in the build, launch and insurance programmes for six geo-stationary satellites on behalf of Optus and its parent company SingTel. These include the Optus C1 satellite, which is a hybrid civilian and military spacecraft, jointly owned by Optus and the Australian Defence Forces. Her involvement in space-related programmes has also included the sale and purchase of satellite capacity, securing the use of orbital slots, advising on risk, liability and insurance issues and negotiating other civilian and military satellite-related contracts. Prior to co-founding Azimuth Advisory, Donna served as Assistant General Counsel for Optus Satellite, an Australian satellite operator. She has also practiced technology and telecommunications law at Baker & McKenzie in Hong Kong and Minter Ellison in Sydney.

Donna has published joint papers on Space Law topics internationally and has been a presenter on commercial Space Law topics in Australia (including the International Space University’s Southern Hemisphere Space Program), Austria, Canada, Denmark, South Africa, Taiwan and the United States.


Elina Morozova

Elina Morozova is Head of the International and Legal Service at the Intersputnik International Organization of Space Communications (intergovernmental satellite telecommunication organization headquartered in Moscow, Russia). Before joining Intersputnik in 2005, she was working at the legal department of a major Russian telecommunications company. Specializing in the field of international space and telecommunications law, she focuses on issues related to the use of the radio frequency spectrum and satellite orbits, operation of geostationary and non-geostationary satellites, provision of access to the satellite capacity and satellite telecommunications services. Elina Morozova earned two university degrees in international law and world economy from the All-Russian Academy of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation and holds an LL.M in International Business Law from the University of Manchester. She is a member of the Russian Association of International Law, heads the working group for the revision of the regulatory instruments of the Regional Commonwealth in the Field of Communications (RCC) and serves as Director on the Board of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL).


Eligar Sadeh

Eligar Sadeh, Ph.D., is an aerospace professional, professor and educator, and entrepreneur. Eligar serves as Founder and CEO of Astroconsulting International LLC, which empowers space, defense, and environmental programs and projects with the critical technology management skills to optimize outcomes; Chief Editor of the academic journal Astropolitics; Founder and CEO of the Astropolitics Institute; and is affiliated with with the International Space University and the University of Colorado. Previously, Eligar held professorships in Space and Defense Studies in the College of Aerospace Sciences, Department of Space Studies at the University of North Dakota, and in the Eisenhower Center for Space and Defense Studies at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Eligar also worked for Lockheed Martin Space Systems as an Aerospace Systems Engineer on NASA spacecraft, and served as a Research Associate with the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University. Eligar published a number of books and book chapters on space issues, as well as research papers in the academic journals of Space Policy, Astropolitics, and Acta Astronautica. Eligar holds Ph.D., Master, and B.S. degrees with subject matter expertise in Space Studies, Environmental Studies, International Studies, Science and Technology Studies, Technology Management, Project Management, Systems Engineering, Engineering Leadership, Bioengineering, Bioastronautics, Remote Sensing, and Astrophysics.


Victoria Samson

Victoria Samson is the Washington Office Director for Secure World Foundation and has over twenty-five years of experience in military space and security issues.

Before joining SWF, Ms. Samson served as a Senior Analyst for the Center for Defense Information (CDI), where she leveraged her expertise in missile defense, nuclear reductions, and space security issues to conduct in-depth analysis and media commentary. Prior to her time at CDI, Ms. Samson was the Senior Policy Associate at the Coalition to Reduce Nuclear Dangers, a consortium of arms control groups in the Washington, D.C. area, where she worked with Congressional staffers, members of the media, embassy officials, citizens, and think-tanks on issues related to ballistic missile defense and nuclear weapons reduction. Before that, she was a researcher at Riverside Research Institute, where she worked on war-gaming scenarios for the Missile Defense Agency's Directorate of Intelligence.

Known throughout the space and security arena as a thought leader on policy and budgetary issues, Ms. Samson is often interviewed by multinational media outlets, including the New York Times, Space News, and NPR. She is also a prolific author of numerous op-eds, analytical pieces, journal articles, and updates on missile defense and space security matters. She is also a member of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) committee on space security and the Space Security Working Group of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM)’s Committee on International Security and Arms Control (CISAC).


Brian Weeden

Dr. Brian Weeden is the Director of Program Planning for Secure World Foundation and has more than 20 years of professional experience in space operations and policy.

Dr. Weeden directs strategic planning for future-year projects to meet the Foundation's goals and objectives, and conducts research on space sustainability issues. He is a member and former Chair of the World Economic Forum's Council on the Future of Space Technologies, a former member of the Advisory Committee on Commercial Remote Sensing (ACCRES) to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Executive Director of the Consortium for Execution of Rendezvous and Servicing Operations (CONFERS). Prior to joining SWF, Dr. Weeden served nine years on active duty as an officer in the United States Air Force working in space and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) operations.

Dr. Weeden holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Clarkson University, a Master’s Degree in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, and a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Public Administration from George Washington University in the field of Science and Technology Policy.


Jessica West

Dr. Jessica West is a Senior Researcher at the Canadian peace research institute Project Ploughshares and Managing Editor of the international Space Security Index project. Her research and policy work is focused on technology, security, and governance. Jessica interacts regularly with key United Nations bodies tasked with space security and space safety issues. She holds a PhD in global governance and international security from the Balsillie School of International Affairs.

 

 

 

The opinions of the attending speakers are solely their personal view. They neither represent their country of nationality nor their institution.

 

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