This workshop will focus on economic and legal analysis of commercial development of space (basically the economics and governance of business in space).  This includes emphasis on the applicability of concepts in international economic law and regulation to the development of economic law and regulation for space-based commerce. We are interested in a broad range of topics, where possible examples include (but are not limited to): 

We are interested in a range of topics, where possible examples include:

• Regulation of private commerce (taxation of extra-terrestrial activity; trade between Earth and space facilities; trade between extra-terrestrial facilities);

• Natural resource extraction and its Implications (mining of celestial bodies; salvage in space; rules governing such activities);

• Contract issues and private dispute settlement (property rights and contract enforcement without governing bodies; liability and insurance challenges for commercial launch service providers; arbitration and jurisdiction for non-terrestrial disputes);

• Sovereignty concerns (competition among governments in space; anti-piracy enforcement; extra-terrestrial sovereignty; national security);

• Competition policy issues (rules; effective enforcement; lack of governing authority; market access to space; allocating orbits);

• Technology and innovation (spillovers between aerospace and other industries; scale economies and market power in commercial launch services and communication services; the development and application of machine learning);

• Multilateral agreements (design of agreements; dispute settlement and arbitration; managing space trash);

• Comparative analysis of legal framework developments at the national level.

The goal of the workshop is twofold.  The first goal is to identify promising areas for future research, along the lines outlined above.  We are interested in the cross-disciplinary mix of economics, law, political science, and applied natural science.  The second goal is to enlist interested researchers in setting up a research and workshop agenda and loose organizational/coordinating structure (a researcher network) based on the areas identified. The workshop will be hosted jointly by the International Space Science Institute and the World Trade Institute.

Date: 

• 24-26 January 2024

Organizers:

• Ron Davies, University College Dublin

• Maurizio Falanga, ISSI, University of Bern

• Joseph Francois, University of Bern

• Krista Nadakavukaren, Swiss Institute of Comparative Law (ISDC)

• Rodrigo Polanco, University of Bern

Contact details:

For further details, or to express interest, please contact Sophia Thompson, sophia.thompson@wti.org