Space Law, Policy, & Ethics
In addition to my work on international human rights related to atrocity prevention and civilian protection, I’ve worked on space law, policy, and ethics in a variety of settings, advising clients, companies, and government officials.
The Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition takes place every year with law schools from around the world. I’ve served as a faculty coach for several teams and as a judge, including the final round judge for the North American competition in 2026. The Competition is an excellent way to grow the field of practicing international space lawyers and I’ve enjoyed working with the Space Court Foundation to support and develop it over the years.
I co-founded the Space Law Interest Group at the American Society of International Law, where I worked to bring space law to a broader community of international law practitioners through programming, publications, and major conferences like ASIL’s Annual Meeting.
In my current research, I am looking to tie the ongoing development of space exploration and exploitation to the critical needs of the atrocity prevention community. There are already numerous practice areas where space-based infrastructure, licensing, and/or access has had significant impact on the ability to identify, document, and respond to mass atrocities, especially in remote regions or situations where governments have cut off traditional telecommunication systems.
I have the privilege to work with an amazing group of individuals on space policy and ethics. We co-founded Project Lodestar, a community of academics, practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders working to address the challenges in pushing the frontiers of outer space.
The efforts of humanity to transition from casual and incremental access to space to a more intentional interaction with what has been called the last "common heritage of humankind" requires a considered and careful approach to how we beings should engage with this relatively unknown environment.
The entirety of humanity needs to be engaged in preparing for these future issues, including underrepresented and marginalized communities, indigenous peoples, and ethnic and national groups from current non-space-faring nations.
I regularly speak to specialist and public audiences about these issues and am happy to engage in both public and private consultations on these topics.