Leaving the (Space) Door Open: ISS Missions as a Platform for International Cooperation

On 3 March, three American and one Russian astronauts took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the Falcon-9 rocket, owned by Elon Musk's company SpaceX, to reachthe International Space Station (ISS) (Le Monde, 2024). A US-Russian partnership, sustained by a private actor, might seem quite surprising amidst renewed geopolitical tension. However, neither the space cooperation between the US and Russia nor the active involvement of private companies in public-funded space operations is new in the space field. The growing impact of these trends on the space activities of other actors, such as the EU, will be significant (Jones, 2023).

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An EU Space Law on the Horizon: Decoding Legal Foundations and Navigating Policy Frontiers

In recent years and through the dissemination of documents, strategic initiatives, and legislative measures, the European Union recognised the need for a substantial space regulation framework that would ensure responsible and sustainable activities in outer space. Member States [MSs] have begun drafting national laws to meet space-related challenges such as satellite proliferation, risks of congestion and collision, and security threats against space assets (European Commission, 2023a). To mitigate fragmentation, the EU is ready to establish a dedicated legal framework that aligns withinternational space law within its legal system. As a matter of fact, in the EU Space Strategy for Security and Defence of March 2023, the Commission announced that it is working on the proposal for an EU Space Law. This legal instrument will be available in early 2024 and will allegedly envisage common EU rules for the safety, resilience and sustainability of space activities and operations. The risk of fragmentation in the absence of a regulatory framework canimpact the competitiveness, security, and worldwide influence of EU industries in international fora (European Commission, 2023a). This mesmerising topic has attracted interest from academia, industry, and the private and public sectors which expressed their views through a targeted consultation.

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Orbiting a Solution to Anti-Satellite Weapons

One of the many problems that the scientific community is facing today is space debris. Space debris is exceptionally dangerous as it can cause the Kessler Effect, a scenario where objects in space collide, creating an exponentially growing mount of rubble orbiting the planet. What is especially concerning is the use of anti-satellite weapons (ASATs), which leave hundreds of thousands of debris items in space, putting astronauts and other satellites at risk. If states continue to test their ASAT weapons or use them to attack other satellites, this could have a dramatic impact on all space actors as well as future generations. This study will explore why the international community has not banned the use of ASATs yet and it will investigate how to achieve this outcome through an in-depth analysis of space-related treaties.

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Space Lessons Learned from the War in Ukraine

With each passing conflict, the space industry is gaining more and more relevance in the operation command chain, especially during interstate wars. The war in Ukraine is the perfect example of this, revealing the most significant trajectories in the space domain, and highlighting flaws and rapid developments; in a nutshell, this war is shaping the future of space, especially in the military sector. The focus of this paper will be first on the Russian entanglement in the conflict, followed by an analysis of the Ukrainian rapid adaptation of the new rules in space guided by Western help, and finally, conclusions will be drawn from the very interesting evolvement of the space industry in this war.

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Russia Threatens a Retaliatory Strike Against Civilian Space Infrastructure

During the meeting of the United Nations Council on October 26, a new threat to pro- Ukrainian Western nations was identified. The Russian Senior Foreign Ministry official Konstantin Vorontsov stated that "quasi-civilian space infrastructure can be a legitimate target for retaliation” (Voronstov, 2022). The main targets may include the American companies Space X, Iridium and Maxar, since they provide critical communication services for the Ukrainian people. The first of these supports Ukrainian troops with broadband Internet access; the satellite communication company contributes with a satellite network; and the latter captures images of the war from satellites (Roulette, 2022). However, Vorontsov has not yet mentioned any specific names of satellite companies that might be attacked.

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