Breakfast Briefing with Hjalte Osborn Frandsen
Abstract
On the 28 December, the private company SpaceX launched its 61st rocket of 2022, adding 54 satellites to its burgeoning mega-constellation of more than 3000 satellites. For comparison, the European Space Agency launched six rockets in 2022 and operates 22 satellites in total. During the first months of the Russian assault on Ukraine, several commercial space companies stepped in to provide vital satellite imageries and space-based internet in support of the Ukrainian armed forces. This exemplifies the three currently dominant trends of human space activities: expansion, securitization and privatization.
The global space industry is currently undergoing the most fundamental and swift changes since the original space race ended when Neil Armstrong placed the first boot marks on the moon in 1969. The rapid changes raise a number of serious governance issues in areas such as national security, environmental protection and rule of law in outer space. The briefing will address these trends through the lens of international efforts to govern the increasingly contested and congested region of Low Earth Orbit.
About the Speaker
After obtaining a M.Sc. in International Law, Economics and Management and a LL.M. from Copenhagen Business School and University of Copenhagen, Hjalte Osborn Frandsen has worked as an entrepreneur, management consultant, and researcher at the nexus of technological change, sustainability, and governance. Hjalte’s Ph.D. project in International Space Law explores avenues for better governance in the increasingly congested and contested region of Low Earth Orbit.
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See a list of all the international Law Breakfast Briefings for spring 2023