The Global Space Law Center’s 2022/23 academic year is off to an exciting start!  Here are some recent highlights and new developments: This semester’s online Space Law course has shattered records with over 50 students enrolling!  The GSLC website has been redesigned and now contains more information about some of the projects and initiatives that the Center has spearheaded or otherwise supported. Visit the new Events and Initiatives page to see more! The Article XI Project, of which the Center is a co-sponsor, has gained international attent ..read more

The Global Space Law Center participated last week in C|M|LAW’s live-streamed Russia-Ukraine Conflict Panel Discussion. At the close of the panel, Prof. Mark J. Sundahl addresses the multiplicity of ways in which the conflict has touched space and encourages the international community to continue to use space as a “laboratory of peace” that has traditionally brought countries together even in times of war. Prof. Sundahl also warns Russia against using the type of kinetic antisatellite weapon that it tested just last year – a test that created massive clouds of dangerous orbital debris th ..read more

The Global Space Law Center has not always seen eye-to-eye with positions taken by the Outer Space Institute, but we stand shoulder-to-shoulder when it comes to the need to ban kinetic ASAT tests. The GSLC has therefore added its signature to OSI’s Open Letter on Kinetic ASAT Tests calling for a binding international agreement prohibiting such tests and applaud OSI for launching this critical initiative.  The GSLC would also like to make the following statement regarding kinetic ASAT tests: The intentional and reckless creation of massive clouds of space debris at high ..read more

Our student-staffed Research Council has been brainstorming about the most critical issues facing the space community on an international level. We identified the following five issues as the most pressing (in order of importance). Do you agree? 1. The definition of the “peaceful use” of outer space and the limits of militarization. 2. The (il)legality of kinetic ASAT tests under the Article IX obligation to operate with due regard. 3. The establishment of “safety zones” and the sharing of information regarding lunar activities to avoid interference. 4. The regulation of satellite me ..read more

Congratulations to SpaceX for a flawless launch of Inspiration4!  For those of you interested in the legalities, we dug up the FAA launch license for the mission.  By the way, remember when the X-Prize was won in 2004? We had safety regulations (such as they are) in place by 2006 – 15 years before the first all-civilian flight! Now we have the first civilian orbital flight and no talk of regulations. Any thoughts on this? Does OST Art. VI require additional regulation ..read more

On June 24th, The Registration Project held its first Public Workshop in order to bring its work before a college of space law experts (as well as the general public) to seek broader input from all stakeholders. The Workshop was hosted by Moon Dialogs as part of a series of high-profile webinars focused on the governance of lunar activity.  The invited experts at the Workshop included a who’s who of space law luminaries from academia, government, and industry. The two-hour conversation brought a number of new insights and added considerable depth to the growing co ..read more

The Global Space Law Center‘s STARLAW Blog Named #2 Space Law Blog The Global Space Law Center’s blog, The STARLAW Blog, was named the #2 blog on FeedSpot’s 2021 ranking of the top five blogs on issues of space law and policy. Many thanks to our talented contributors and faithful subscribers! Special thanks goes to our recent graduate, Kristina Schiavone, who served as the STARLAW blog’s first Editor-in-Chief. Kristina has set a high standard for timely, informative, and frequently provocative blog posts. A Busy Year for the Research Council! The 2020/21 academic year was a ..read more

Jeff Murphy, JD ’21, Research Council Member, Global Space Law Center at Cleveland State University On April 19, 2021, the NASA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released an Artemis Status Update. The report brings a touch of reality to the hype that naturally comes with daring space missions. At the start, the report describes the Artemis mission using a timeline to highlight its various stages. The timeline begins with an uncrewed orbit of the Moon in 2021, followed by a crewed orbital mission in 2023, before landing astronauts on the Moon by 2024. The timeline was always ambitious with ..read more

Mark Sundahl & Kristina Schiavone A new space law initiative, the Registration Project, was launched earlier this year to address the shortcomings of the existing law and practice regarding the registration of space objects and activities as the international community faces a new era of lunar exploration. This self-governed working group is a joint venture of the Moon Village Association (MVA) and the Global Space Law Center (GSLC) at Cleveland State University. The working group consists of 25 members from around the world drawn from industry, academia, government, and nongovernmental or ..read more

Aimee Fanter, JD’21, GSLC Research Council Member To humanity, outer space is the last great unknown. The notion of the night sky has always painted a mysterious and romantic picture – untouched by civilization. But this changed in 1957, with the launch of Sputnik 1. Soon after, our night sky changed. We no longer see thousands of stars with our naked eyes, the flash of comets dashing across the horizon, or the details in our Milky Way. Today, we see space has been touched by civilization, and to a great extent. There are thousands of satellites currently orbiting Earth, and hundreds of satell ..read more