Room S12, Maison de la paix, Geneva Graduate Institute
The International Law Department is delighted to host Michael Byers for his upcoming talk on Elon Musk and the ownership of space.
Who owns Outer Space? Could Elon Musk become President of Mars? The first of these questions is already a matter of diplomatic dispute; the second could soon follow. For Space has become a very busy place, with 212 successful orbital and deep space launches occurring in 2023 alone. It is an important part of the global economy, involving half-a-trillion dollars of activity annually. It is also increasingly militarized, through the heavy use of Earth imaging and communications satellites and the related development of anti-satellite weapons. At the same time, Space sees considerable cooperation, including between the United States and Russia on the International Space Station. And now, rapid technological developments such as reusable rockets are opening the door to Space mining and the future human settlement of other celestial bodies. All these developments create challenges for national and international policy makers—and international lawyers.
About the Speaker
Michael Byers holds the Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia. He also co-directs the Outer Space Institute, a global network of space experts united by their commitment to transdisciplinary research that addresses grand challenges in the use and exploration of space. Dr. Byers has been a Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford University; a Professor of Law at Duke University; and a Visiting Professor at the universities of Cape Town, Tel Aviv, Nord (Norway) and Novosibirsk (Russia). Together with astrophysicist Aaron Boley, he is the co-author of a new book – Who Owns Outer Space? – published by Cambridge University Press.
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