ETH Global Lecture Series: Who Owns the Moon?
9 Dec 2024 - Unlike any other time in human history, humanity sits on the threshold of the universe. As the commercial space industry grows in influence and importance, complex legal and ethical questions emerge. Join us as we navigate the intricacies, gaps, and inconsistencies of space law.
with our cooperation partner
After millennia of being awed by the night sky and centuries of studying the patterns of stars and planets, the vast resources of space are within our grasp. Last year, the global space industry skyrocketed launching 3,000 satellites, interplanetary probes, landers, and much more. In the United States, SpaceX was responsible for almost 90% of these launches and now more than 70 other countries are demonstrating space capabilities. As a result, complex legal and ethical questions emerge about territory, resource rights, sustainability, equity, and the preservation of the space environment.
Join Michelle Hanlon, a leading voice in space law and Executive Director of the Center for Air and Space Law at the University of Mississippi, as she takes us through the intricacies of space law – exploring the human boundaries that exist as we travel the Universe.
In Hanlon’s presentation, you will discover:
- The importance of safeguarding historic sites on the Moon and beyond—not just as a tribute to our past, but as essential stepping-stones for our future explorations.
- The gaps in space law specifically, the differing obligations that space law imposes on scientific and commercial activities, as well as governmental and private actors.
- The intergovernmental treaties and agreements that form the backbone of space law, and how they are set to gain unprecedented significance in our increasingly crowded and competitive cosmic landscape.
- How we can navigate this exciting frontier responsibly and ethically, ensuring that our ventures into space enrich not only our own species but the entire universe.
Who Owns the Moon?
Monday, 9 December 2024
12.30 - 13.30 CET
HG F30 Audimax, door opens at 12.00
This lecture is in English
Registration is required external page here
Speakers, panelists, & moderator
- external page Michelle Hanlon, Executive Director of the Air and Space Law Program at the University of Mississippi and its Center for Air and Space Law
- Luca Thanei, Research Assistant in the Chair for the History of Technology, Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences at ETH Zurich (panelist)
- external page Catherine Kropf, Deputy Head of the Swiss Space Office at the State Secretariat for Education Research & Innovation SERI of the Swiss Confederation (panelist)
- external page Rodrigo Polanco, Legal Adviser, Swiss Institute of Comparative Law. Senior Lecturer and Researcher, Academic Coordinator, World Trade Institute (panelist)
- Chris Luebkeman, leader of the Strategic Foresight Hub in the Office of the President at ETH Zurich (moderation)
Michelle L.D. Hanlon
Michelle L.D. Hanlon is Executive Director of the Air and Space Law Program at the University of Mississippi and its Center for Air and Space Law. She also serves as an advisor to The Hague Institute for Global Justice Off-World Approach project. As the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Space Law, she maintains the world’s oldest law journal dedicated to the legal problems arising out of human activities in outer space. Her research and advocacy centers upon the concept of “due regard” in space law and evolving the framework necessary to assure that human exploration of space is responsible, successful and sustainable. Hanlon was instrumental in the development of the One Small Step Act in the United States and, recently, she urged the United Nations to recognize and adopt temporary heritage protection zones around certain sites on the Moon as part of a legal framework for space resource utilization. Hanlon received a B.A. in Political Science from Yale, and a J.D. magna cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center. She earned her LLM in Air and Space Law from McGill University where the focus of her research was on commercial space and the intersection of commerce and public law. external page More…
Luca Thanei
Luca Thanei is a Research Assistant at the Chair for the History of Technology, Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences at ETH Zurich. During his studies at ETH, he became interested in the remnants that spaceflight has left behind around Earth over the past sixty years. In his master’s thesis, he traced how space agencies began conceptualizing a distinct “Low Earth Orbit Environment” in reaction to ever more space debris during the 1970s. In his doctoral project, he now investigates how “Near-Earth Space” became delimited and quantified as a crucial and scarce resource for spaceflight between 1970 and 2010.
Catherine Kropf
Catherine Kropf is the Deputy Head of the Swiss Space Office at the State Secretariat for Education Research and Innovation SERI of the Swiss Confederation. The Swiss Space Office is responsible for the preparation and implementation of space policy in Switzerland. Kropf is head of the Space Policy & Support Unit and responsible for external page Swiss Space Policy and national space legislation, currently drafting the first Swiss Space Act. She manages the Swiss budget for the European Space Agency ESA, as well as education and communication measures related to space. Catherine Kropf is Swiss Delegate to the ESA Council and to the ESA Administrative and Finance Committee. Kropf obtained her Master of Law (MLaw) and Executive Master of Public Administration (Executive MPA) degrees from the University of Berne, where she was also engaged professionally at the Institute of Public Law and the Institute of European and International Economic Law.
Rodrigo Polanco
Rodrigo Polanco is a Legal Adviser at the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law. He also serves as a Senior Lecturer and Researcher, Academic Coordinator, World Trade Institute. A published scholar and legal practitioner with experience in both the public and private sectors, Polanco specialises in economic and international law, investment law, trade law, and air and space law. He holds a Bachelor and a Master of Laws from Universidad de Chile School of Law, an LL.M. in International Legal Studies from New York University (NYU) School of Law, and a PhD from the University of Bern, Graduate School of Economic Globalisation and Integration. Currently, he serves as a Senior Researcher and Lecturer at the World Trade Institute, University of Bern. external page More...
Chris Luebkeman
Chris Luebkeman is Head of the Strategic Foresight Hub in the Office of the President at ETH Zurich. In all of his collaborations, he intertwines practical optimism, insatiable curiosity, and a profound commitment to the planet. Chris' career to date has spanned various professions and locations. His path led him to Vanderbilt, Cornell and ETH Zurich, among others. Prior to his role as Head of Foresight at ETH Zurich, he worked at the global engineering consultancy Arup in London, where he led the research and development group and later founded the foresight, innovation and incubation teams.