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Course Details

Space Law and Policy (Adams)

Spring 2025   LAW 932-001  

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Additional Information

Skills Training
Oral Presentations
Expository Writing

Grading
15% Participation,
75% Paper,
10% Other (Other assignments will include short reflections and/or discussion group posts.)

Satisfies Senior Writing Requirement

With Permission of Instructor

Location

Class meets in person.

Course Continuity
Students are encouraged to stay home if you are ill or experience flu-like symptoms. If you miss a class for any reason, it is still your responsibility to make up the work missed.

I offer the following to students who miss class due to illness:

- I will make PowerPoint slides or other class materials routinely available on the course site to everyone in the class.

- If you are absent due to illness or some other unavoidable circumstance, email me and I can make PowerPoint slides or other class materials available to you.

- Please make an appointment to meet with me and I will review/answer questions about what you missed.

Meeting Times/Location
W 2:00PM - 4:00PM
Silverman Hall 270

Category
Seminar

Credits
3.0

Outer space is evolving from the exclusive province of a select number of Cold War rivals into the domain of a rapidly expanding commercial industry. The private sector is reshaping the balance of power and breadth of activities beyond our atmosphere, introducing new interests and incentives in the process. This reality not only requires reexamining the legal instruments and institutions that were crafted with 20th century military and scientific interests in mind, but also assessing how to best manage the broader functions that exist today.

This seminar will address the multiple facets of this shift, introducing students to the many sub-fields of space law: international space law, domestic regulation, property design and appropriation of orbit and radio resources, commercial financing, and tort liability for space objects. We will discuss the key civilian, private sector, and government actors and how they are influencing existing regimes and emerging issues in space policy. We will also examine the current public and private law frameworks, as well as alternative governance arrangements, and how these systems interact. Then, we will evaluate domestic and international proposals for reform and how continuing innovation, geopolitical tensions, and commercial ambitions might shape future law and policy. Special emphasis will be placed on launch services, satellite constellations, and planetary exploration.

No prerequisites are required. The topics covered in this course are inherently interdisciplinary and the course is structured to appeal to a broad range of students.

Course Concentrations

Business and Corporate Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of business and corporate law; Perform legal analysis in the context of business and corporate law; Communicate effectively on topics related to business and corporate law; Demonstrate an understanding of the interconnection between the world of business and finance and that of business and corporate law, and how they affect other areas of law and society.

International and Comparative Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of international and comparative law, both substantively and procedurally; Perform legal analysis in the context of international and comparative law; Communicate effectively on topics related to international and comparative law; Demonstrate an understanding of the role of international and comparative law, and their interconnection with domestic law.

Intellectual Property and Technology Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of intellectual property law; Perform legal analysis in the context of intellectual property law; Communicate effectively on topics related to intellectual property; Demonstrate an understanding of the interconnection between technology and intellectual property, and how they affect other areas of law and society.

Administrative and Regulatory Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of administrative and regulatory law and the administrative process, including the role of statutory authorization and work of administrative agencies; Perform legal analysis in the context of administrative and regulatory law; Communicate effectively on topics related to administrative and regulatory law; Demonstrate an understanding of the role administrative and regulatory law play in our legal system and in society as a whole.