2017 ECSL Summer Course on Space Law and Policy - Second Week
After a weekend off and an impressive visit to the Vatican, the Summer Course started its second week. During the lectures on Monday the 11th of September the participants were introduced to the topic of the group project; to give legal advice relating to a scientific mission to Mars to develop technology for space resource mining! On Tuesday we had our last site visit outside of Sapienza University to Telespazio’s Fucino Space Centre. Wednesday, we had the last lectures of the summer course, which delved into new legal challenges in space, such as resource utilisation, use of Earth observation data, space debris and space situational awareness.
Monday 11 September 2017
Monday, themed as Mars day, started with an inspiring lecture by Dr. Gernot Grömer, President of the Austrian Space Forum (OEWF), about human motivations and aspirations to go to space. The presentation also explained the activities of the OEWF and the contribution of analogue missions to the required knowledge for a mission to Mars. Gabriele Mascetti, Head of Human Spaceflight Department of ASI, perfectly complemented the previous presentation by detailing the technical challenges faced when reaching, and returning from, Mars. As the last speaker before the lunch break, Prof. George Kyriakopoulos, Lecturer in International Law at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, discussed the contentious issue of the definition and delimitation of outer space and the approaches taken towards defining and delimitating the boundary between airspace and outer space.
The day continued with a lecture on the legal considerations for space exploration and the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) by Alexander Soucek, Legal Officer in the International Law Division of the Legal Services Department of ESA. The lecture addressed, among other issues, backward and forward contamination of celestial bodies. Thereafter, André Farand, Head of the Programmes Division of the Legal Services Department of ESA, discussed the International Space Station (ISS) as a legal model for Mars exploration, the ISS agreements and legal issues related to activities on the ISS. The day ended with a short presentation by Prof. Philippe Achilleas, Full Professor of Public Law at the University of Paris-Sud and Board Member of the ECSL. During this presentation the group project and the team compositions were announced. The participants then started working on their project, which will have to be presented on Friday!
Tuesday 12 September 2017
After a two hour bus drive through the beautiful Italian countryside, the participants arrived at Telespazio’s Fucino Space Centre. A word of welcome was given by Gianni Riccobono of Telespazio, who also introduced the activities of Telespazio. The presentation also outlined the involvement of Telespazio to the Galileo Navigation System, Europe’s global navigation system. The introduction was followed by a presentation by Vittorio Colella Albino, Senior Vice President for Legal Affairs at Telespazio, who discussed contractual and legal issues with respect to the operations of Telespazio. Thereafter, the participants were taken for a tour of Telespazio by Mr. Riccobono, further explaining the activities of Telespazio and showing the various control rooms. After lunch, Prof. Philippe Achilleas, gave a comprehensive lecture on telecommunications regulations, discussing the ITU, frequency allocation and TV satellite frequencies.
Wednesday 13 September 2017
Wednesday saw the last series of lectures starting off with Prof. Irmgard Marboe, Professor at the Department of European Law, International Law and Comparative Law at the University of Vienna. Prof. Marboe gave a lecture which was very relevant to this year’s group project, namely about space resource utilisation, discussing the US and Luxembourg legislation, the lawfulness of such utilisation under international law and setting out the unilateral and multilateral approaches that can be taken. Thereafter, Sarah Moens, Legal and Commercial Manager at QinetiQ Space and board member of the ECSL, spoke about Earth Observation data as evidence before courts. Ilaria Zilioli, Legal Officer of the Programmes Division in the Legal Services Department of ESA, closed the first half of the day with a lecture about space situational awareness, which deals with space hazards such as space debris, space weather and risks by natural hazards.
The second half of the day continued with Roberto Aceti, CEO of Orbitale Hochtechnologie Bremen (OHB) Italy. Mr. Aceti presented a view of the industry with respect to the monitoring of space debris. Finally, alumni of the Summer Course Ilaria Zilioli and Sarah Moens were joined by Tomas Hrozensky, Ph.D. Candidate at the Matej Bel University and Chairman of the Slovak Space Policy Association. The panel explained their career paths and the opportunities the Summer Course participants have within the space sector. The panel also encouraged the participants to be engaged with the space community, and contact the ECSL if they are interested in organising national events.
The lectures have now ended, which leaves Thursday for the participants to work on their group project and presentation for Friday.
This article was written by Vincent Seffinga in his capacity as a tutor for the 2017 ECSL Summer Course. All rights remain with the ECSL. ECSL webpage editor: Mari Eldholm - mari.amanda.eldholm@esa.int
This article was written by Vincent Seffinga in his capacity as a tutor for the 2017 ECSL Summer Course. All rights remain with the ECSL.