SWF Team Supports the International Space University's 2018 Space Studies Program

Monday, August 6, 2018

SWF Space Law Advisor Chris Johnson is serving as Departmental Chair of Space Policy, Economics, and Law at the International Space University (ISU) 2018 Space Studies Program (SSP), held from June 25 to August 4 in Delft, Netherlands. The 2018 Space Studies Program is a nine-week international, interdisciplinary, and intercultural program open to masters and graduate students from around the world, focusing on all aspects of the global space industry. This summer over 130 participants and over 500 guests - including astronauts and space industry professionals and academics from around the world - will participate in the 2018 SSP, hosted by the Technical University of Delft, Leiden University, and with significant engagement with the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) facility of the European Space Agency (ESA) in Noordwijk, Netherlands.

Meeting for three weeks in the middle of the SSP, Mr. Johnson’s Space Policy, Economics, and Law department is comprised of sixteen selected students who will delve deeper into various aspects of international and national space law, international legal theory, space security, the United Nations system and its relationship with outer space, national space policy issues and current developments, as well as space economics and the financial aspects and implications of national and commercial space endeavors. This department will also run a multi-day simulation of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), the results of which will be presented by the students at this falls International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Bremen, Germany.

Also this summer at ISU, SWF Executive Director Dr. Michael Simpson and Director of Private Sector Programs Ian Christensen appeared as a Guest Lecturers in the Management and Business department. Mr Christensen lectured in a session focused on the relationship between Regulation and Innovation, leading the department's students through a case study exercise evaluating a hypothetical start-up company's interaction with it's regulatory environment. Mr. Christensen also participated in several other sessions of the Department. Meanwhile, Project Manager Mr. Josh Wolny lectured on US national space policy in Mr. Johnson’s department, and SWF Advisory Committee member Tanja Masson-Zwaan also lectured in Mr. Johnson’s department and served as a visiting expert and lecturer in multiple ISU Team Projects.