A trans-Tasman webinar held by the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law (ANZSIL) will look at how people should further develop the international framework to manage and prioritise our future activities in space.

The webinar – entitled The Geopolitics of Outer Space and International Law: Square Peg in a Round Hole? is being held on Monday, 29 June at 3pm NZT via Zoom.

Professor Steven Freeland of Western Sydney University, who will present at the webinar, says the challenges associated with the increasing proliferation of space debris raise an imperative for humankind to alter the current ‘business as usual’ model, in an attempt to address the risk of a ‘tragedy of the commons’ scenario in space.

“The myriad challenges and opportunities of space call for a more collective and cooperative approach to applying and further developing the international framework to manage, and prioritise, our future activities in space. Despite obvious ‘terrestrial’ tensions and geopolitical differences, the major space faring states generally have very significant common interests in maintaining a stable space environment,” he says.

The lecture will address the role of the international legal framework – complemented by national space law specific to each country’s unique requirements – in emphasising the common interests of all space faring states in acting in a manner that supports the safety, security and sustainability of space, rather than reinforcing the multi-polar stances that are seen in the current geopolitical context.

Steven Freeland is Professor of International Law at Western Sydney University, specialising in Commercial Space Law, and previously the Dean of the School of Law.

Join the Zoom meeting here.