McGill.CA / Institute of Air & Space Law / Projects / Strategic Space Law Course

Course Lecturers

The Strategic Space Law is taught by experts and scholars who are recognised for their expertise in space law and strategic uses of outer space.

Course convener:

Course lecturers:

Course Coordinator:

  • Mr. David Kuan-Wei Chen (McGill University, Canada)

Almudena Azcárate Ortega

Almudena Azcárate Ortega is the lead Space Security Researcher at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR). She has published widely and briefed UN Member States on the topics of space security law and policy and has presented her research in multiple fora. She has led UNIDIR’s participation in the UN Open-Ended Working Group on Reducing Space Threats Through Norms, Rules and Principles of Responsible Behaviour, established pursuant to UN General Assembly resolution 76/231. Prior to joining UNIDIR, Almudena was a Research Assistant at Georgetown University Law Center, where she is currently a doctoral candidate. She holds an LL.M. in National Security Law from the same institution, where she was the recipient of Georgetown’s Thomas Bradbury Chetwood, S.J. Prize for the most distinguished academic performance in the programme. She received her LL.B. from the University of Navarra, Spain.

Roy Balleste

Dr. Roy Balleste, MRAeS is a tenured full professor of law at Stetson University College of Law, where he serves as Director of International Initiatives and Director of the Law Library. As Director of International Initiatives, Dr. Balleste leads Stetson Law’s global engagement strategy. He develops international partnerships, fosters student and faculty exchanges, and represents the College at leading global forums. His international work includes presentations at the United Nations High-Level Forum on Space, McGill University’s Strategic Space Law Course, and the International Astronautical Congress. Dr. Balleste is a Member of the Royal Aeronautical Society (MRAeS) and the International Institute of Space Law (IISL). In addition to his space law expertise, Dr. Balleste has been a longstanding voice in global internet governance. He served for more than a decade with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), including as an elected member of the Executive Committee of the Noncommercial Users Constituency. Through this work, he helped shape international policy on issues such as Whois regulation, ensuring civil society representation in the global governance of the internet. His research spans space law, cybersecurity, internet governance, and the legal dimensions of emerging technologies. He is currently pursuing a Certified Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) credential at the National Defense University.

Julia Balm

Dr Julia Balm is a Research Associate in the Freeman Air and Space Institute at King’s College London specialising in space strategy and emerging disruptive technologies in the space domain. She researches contemporary space power and advocates for an interdisciplinary approach to the space domain; she works across the House of Lords, Ministry of Defence, and the Defence Academy to deliver research on cross sector strategy and pan-governmental approaches to security challenges. She also teaches officer courses on air and space power at the Joint Services Command and Staff College for the Royal Air Force. She was a Junior Associate Fellow at the NATO Defence College across 2024-2025 specialising on space power and disruptive technologies.

Andrea Buitrago Carranza

Maj Andrea B. Carranza is a Legal Officer at the Office of the Judge Advocate General (OJAG) of the Canadian Armed Forces, and a member of the Law Society of Ontario. She obtained her law degrees in 2016 from McGill University (BCL/JD). In 2020 Maj Carranza obtained an LL.M. in Air & Space Law from the McGill Institute of Air and Space Law (IASL), and she is currently a PhD Candidate at the McGill IASL. Her PhD research explores the protection of human rights for the first humans present on the Moon. Maj Carranza also holds a Master in Public Administration (with concentration in Governance of International Institutions) from Queen’s University (2011) and an Honours in Political Science from Bishop’s University (2010).

Maj Carranza joined the OJAG after having worked at the legal offices of three Specialized Agencies of the United Nations between 2016 and 2018: the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Rome, and the International Civil Aviation Organization of the United Nations (ICAO) in Montreal. Maj Carranza was also a legal clerk at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, assisting the president of the Court.

Within the OJAG, Maj Carranza has spent most of her time as part of the Directorate of Strategic and Operational Law, which is the directorate within the Operational Law division that provides strategic legal advice to the Chief of Defence Staff and the Minister of National Defence. In this role she has been the lead advisor for Air Space Incidents (AIS), NORAD, use of force in international operations, national authorities to deploy, and also provided advice and legal support on Space Law matters.

Gilles Doucet

Gilles Doucet is an independent space security consultant, President of Spectrum Space Security Inc. and technical consultant for ABH Aerospace LLC.

Doucet’s consultancy focuses on the convergence of satellite technology, military space applications, space governance and international space security cooperation. Services encompass space security research, policy advice, education and training.

Mr Doucet is the Technical Lead for the “Manual of International Law Applicable to Military Use of Outer Space” (MILAMOS) international space law project, a member of the Legal Advisory Council of For All Moonkind and a member of the International Institute of Space Law. Doucet is also visiting faculty to the Cybersecurity LLM program at St Thomas University School of Law, in Miami, Florida, instructing in Satellite and Space Security.

Prior to founding Spectrum Security Inc. Mr Doucet spent 35 years as a research scientist with the Canadian Department of National Defence conducting studies and assessments on space technology, military applications, and advising on space policy, international cooperation and defence diplomacy.

Mr Doucet’s education includes Bachelors and Masters degrees in Engineering from Ottawa University and a Graduate Certificate in Air and Space Law from McGill’s Institute of Air and Space Law.

Stuart Eves

Stuart Eves has recently founded his own space consultancy company, SJE Space, after spending 14 years with Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) and 16 years with the UK Ministry Of Defence.

During his time with the MOD, Stuart initiated the TopSat satellite programme, which established a new world record for “resolution per mass of satellite”, and previously formed part of the space gallery at the Science Museum in London.

He has recently published Space Traffic Control, a book which describes the measures needed to maintain the space environment and protect satellites from both natural hazards and man-made threats such as space debris.

Stuart has an MSc in Astrophysics, a PhD in constellation design, and has been a fellow of both the Royal Astronomical Society and the British Interplanetary Society for more than 25 years. He takes an active interest in all things space.

Steven Freeland

Professor Steven Freeland (BCOM, LLB, LLM, PHD) is a Co-Founder and Principal at Azimuth Advisory, and is Emeritus Professor at Western Sydney University, where he was previously the Dean of the School of Law, and Professorial Fellow at Bond University. He also has honorary Adjunct or Visiting Appointments at the University of Vienna; the iCourts Centre of Excellence for International Courts, University of Copenhagen; the University of Hong Kong; the London Institute of Space Policy and Law; Université Toulouse1 Capitole; the Centre for Research in Air and Space Law, McGill University; the Outer Space Institute, University of British Columbia; Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, a Marie Curie Fellow (2013-2014), an expert assessor for Government Research Councils in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, South Africa, The Netherlands and the United States, and has taught various aspects of International Law in over 20 countries. Prior to becoming an academic, he had a 20-year career as an international commercial lawyer and investment banker.

He has represented the Australian Government at various United Nations Committee Meetings, and advised the Australian, New Zealand, Norwegian and several other Governments on issues related to the national and international regulation of space activities and the development of a national space-industry strategy. He has been appointed by the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS) as Vice-Chair of a 5 year Working Group addressing issues regarding the exploration, exploitation and utilization of space resources, and by the Australian Government as a Member of the Australian Space Agency Advisory Board. Among other appointments, he is a Director of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL); a member of the Space Law Committee of the International Law Association (ILA); and a member of both the Space Law Committee and War Crimes Committee of the International Bar Association (IBA). He has also been a Visiting Professional within the Appeals Chamber at the International Criminal Court (ICC), and a Special Advisor to the Danish Foreign Ministry in matters related to the ICC.

He sits on the Editorial Board of the Canada-based Annals of Air and Space Law, the German-based German Journal of Air and Space Law, the China-based Space Law Review, the London-based ROOM Space Journal, the Oxford Research Encyclopaedia of Planetary Science, the Russian-based Space Law Research and on the Advisory Board of a series of books entitled Studies in Space Law. He is also Co-Editor of Annotated Leading Cases of International Criminal Tribunals, a series of casebooks annotating the jurisprudence of the International Criminal Court, the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda, the Special Court for Sierra Leone, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and the Special Panels for Serious Crimes in East Timor.

He has authored approximately 300 publications on various aspects of International Law and has been invited to present over 1800 expert commentaries by national and international media outlets worldwide on a wide range of legal and geopolitical issues. He has been invited to present conference papers. presentations and keynote speeches in Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Denmark, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, The Philippines, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam.

Brian Green

Major Brian D. Green is an instructor in the Operations and International Law Division at the Air Force Judge Advocate General’s School (AFJAGS), Maxwell Air Force Base (AFB), Alabama, where he has served since July 2017. He provides basic and advanced legal instruction to U.S. and allied military and civilian attorneys, paralegals, and other officers from around the world through AFJAGS and Air University courses. Along with fellow McGill alumna Dr. Andrea Harrington, he helped coach the first Air Command and Staff College team at the 2019 Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court competition, where the team became semi-finalists and won the Best New Team award.

Major Green deployed in 2018 as a Deputy Legal Advisor at the Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) for U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM), where he provided operational legal advice for coalition multi-domain contingency operations and plans across the 20 countries within USCENTCOM’s area of responsibility, including Operations INHERENT RESOLVE and FREEDOM’S SENTINEL. He deployed to Baghdad in 2007 as part of the detainee operations task force for Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.

In his most recent prior assignment, Major Green was the Chief of Space and International Law for Fourteenth Air Force (14 AF) at Vandenberg AFB, California. There, he provided legal advice to the dual-hatted commander of 14 AF and U.S. Strategic Command’s Joint Functional Component Command for Space (JFCC SPACE), staffs, and subordinate units. Major Green has also served tours in the base legal offices at Grand Forks and Lackland; represented hundreds of Airmen as a disability attorney before formal physical evaluation boards; and led the team of medical law consultants for the Texas-New Mexico region.

Major Green has written papers and articles on topics such as space situational awareness data sharing, space traffic management, and space weapons. He has also edited articles for MILAMOS and the Air Force Law Review. He has an LL.M. degree in Air and Space Law from McGill University (2015), a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law (2004), and B.A. degrees in Political Science and Interdisciplinary Visual Arts from the University of Washington (2001).

Andrea Harrington

Prof. Andrea Harrington currently serves as the Co-Director of the Institute of Air and Space Law and Associate Professor in the McGill Faculty of Law. She is a member of the editorial board for the McGill Annals of Air and Space Law, New Space, and the American Bar Association publication The Air and Space Lawyer as well as providing peer review for numerous other publications including Acta Astronautica and Space Policy. Among other publications, she is the author of the book “Space Insurance and the Law: Maximizing Private Activities in Outer Space,” which won the British Insurance Law Association Book Prize for 2022. Prof. Harrington is a licensed attorney in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She also teaches in the Space Resources Program for the Colorado School of Mines. Her current research focuses on the use of the principle of due regard in space law and international law.

Prof. Harrington previously served as Dean of Space Education at Air University for the United States Space Force (USSF), where she was responsible for overseeing the West Space Seminar and Schriever Space Scholars, as well as leading Guardian Education development efforts for USSF Space Delta 13. In that role, she led the establishment of ground-breaking USSF academic programs in Washington DC through Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Prior to that role, she served as Chair of the Department of Spacepower and Director of the Schriever Space Scholars concentration at Air Command and Staff College, where she was a Full Professor of Military and Security Studies. There she taught International Space Law and Policy, International Security, and Science Fiction & Military Culture. Before that Prof. Harrington served as the Associate Director of the Air and Space Law Programs at the University of Mississippi, where she taught International Space Law, US Domestic Space Law, International Private Air Law, US National Aviation Law, and Remote Sensing Law. She has been Associate Chair for the Policy, Economics, and Law Department for the International Space University’s 2018 Space Studies Program, Jr. Project Manager for Secure World Foundation, and researcher on projects for the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation, the International Society for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and the Space Security Index.

Prof. Harrington was an Erin J.C. Arsenault Fellow in Space Governance at the McGill University Institute of Air and Space Law (IASL), where her doctoral research focused on insurance and liability issues for the commercial space industry. Prof. Harrington holds a DCL and LLM from the McGill IASL, as well as a JD with High Honors from the University of Connecticut School of Law, an MSc in European Politics and Governance from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a BA in International Relations and History from Boston University (Magna Cum Laude). Prior to transitioning to air and space law, she was active in the insurance and financial compliance fields.

Deborah Housen-Couriel

Deborah is the Chief Legal Officer and VP Regulation for Konfidas Digital, a leading Israeli cybersecurity and data protection consulting firm, advising on high-level strategies for legal planning and regulatory compliance in the areas of corporate governance, preparedness, data protection and cybercrime. Her expertise focuses on global and Israeli cybersecurity law and regulation. Deborah’s experience at the international level includes her current service as Chair of Working Group D of the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise, as a Core Expert on the Manual on International Law Applicable to Military Uses of Outer Space (MILAMOS) project, and as a member of two of the GCSC’s Research Advisory Groups. She was a member of the International Group of Experts that drafted the 2017 Tallinn 2.0 manual on state activity in cyberspace.

Deborah is an advisory board member of the Hebrew University Cyber Security Research Center; and a research fellow at the Minerva Center for the Rule of Law under Extreme Conditions; IDC Herzliya’s Institute for Counter-Terrorism; and the Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center at Tel Aviv University. She teaches courses on cybersecurity law and regulation at the Law School of Hebrew University and at the Herzliya IDC, and has served as a guest lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Exec Ed Program on Cybersecurity: The Intersection of Policy and Technology. In 2010-11, Deborah co-chaired the Regulation and Policy Committee of the National Cyber Initiative launched by the Prime Minister’s Office; and in 2013-4 was as a member of the National Cyber Bureau’s Public Committee on the Cyber Professions. She is currently researching regulatory models for government-private sector information sharing to mitigate cyber threats.

Ram Jakhu

Dr. Ram Jakhu is currently a Professor (Post-Retirement) at the Faculty of Law, McGill University. Till 31 August 2024, he served as a tenured Full Professor at the Faculty of Law. Earlier he served as the Director of the McGill Institute of Air and Space Law and of the Centre for Research in Air and Space Law.

For over 40 years, he taught international space law, law of space applications, law of space commercialization, space safety and security, national regulation of space activities, law of telecommunications, and public international law. He contributed to the drafting and finalization of the Optional Rules for Arbitration of Disputes Relating to Outer Space Activities for the Permanent Court of Arbitration; made presentations at the United Nations and its Committee of Peaceful Uses of Outer Space; participated in the drafting of Space Law Curriculum for the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs; advised several countries in the preparation of national laws and policies; and convened and participated in numerous international interdisciplinary space law and policy related conferences and workshops around the world.

He is Project Director and Co-Editor of the McGill Manual on International Law Applicable to Military Uses of Outer Space (MILAMOS or McGill Manual); Project Director and Editor-in-Chief of the McGill Encyclopedia of International Space Law. He is Co-Editor of the Space Regulatory Series, and member of the Editorial Boards of Space and Evolution, Annals of Air & Space Law, Astropolitics, and German Journal of Air & Space Law.

Professor Jakhu was a Member of the Global Agenda Council on Space of the World Economic Forum; the Governance Group of the Space Security Index; and Fellow as well as the Chairman of the Legal and Regulatory Committee of the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety.

He co-authored three books, over 130 articles, 70 research reports and edited 13 books, including the one that received the 2011 Book Award from the International Academy of Astronautics.

He received in 2025 the “Silver Medal for Significant Contribution to Space Law” from the Cologne Law Institute of Air Law, Space Law and Cyber Law; in 2024 the “Life-Long Dedication to the IASL, the Advancement of Space Law and Education of the Next Generation” Award from the McGill Institute of Air and Space Law; in 2024 honorific titles of Director Emeritus of Institute of Air and Space Law as well as Professor Emeritus, McGill Faculty of Law; in 2022 the “Excellence in Supervision and Mentorship Award” from Graduate Law Student Association of the McGill Faculty of Law; in 2016 the “Leonardo da Vinci Life-Long Achievement Award” from the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety; and in 2007 the “Distinguished Service Award” from the International Institute of Space Law for significant contribution to the development of space law.

He holds Doctor of Civil Law (Dean’s Honours List) and Master of Laws (LL.M.) degrees from McGill University, Canada as well as LL.M., LL.B., and B.A. degrees from Panjab University, India.

Donna Lawler

Donna Lawler is a Co-Founder and Principal at Azimuth Advisory and is a member of the International Institute of Space Lawyers. She is an experienced commercial lawyer specialising in complex transactions in the space and telecommunications industries. For over twenty years in the satellite industry she has been an advisor to a range of commercial space organisations, including operators of cubesats, established operators of geo-stationary satellites and launch services providers. In particular, she has had key involvement in the build, launch and insurance programmes for six geo-stationary satellites on behalf of Optus and its parent company SingTel. These include the Optus C1 satellite, which is a hybrid civilian and military spacecraft, jointly owned by Optus and the Australian Defence Forces. Her involvement in space-related programmes has also included the sale and purchase of satellite capacity, securing the use of orbital slots, advising on risk, liability and insurance issues and negotiating other civilian and military satellite-related contracts. Prior to co-founding Azimuth Advisory, Donna served as Assistant General Counsel for Optus Satellite, an Australian satellite operator. She has also practiced technology and telecommunications law at Baker & McKenzie in Hong Kong and Minter Ellison in Sydney.

Donna has published joint papers on Space Law topics internationally and has been a presenter on commercial Space Law topics in Australia (including the International Space University’s Southern Hemisphere Space Program), Austria, Canada, Denmark, South Africa, Taiwan and the United States.

Elina Morozova

Elina Morozova is Head of the International and Legal Service at the Intersputnik International Organization of Space Communications (intergovernmental satellite telecommunication organization headquartered in Moscow, Russia). Before joining Intersputnik in 2005, she was working at the legal department of a major Russian telecommunications company. Specializing in the field of international space and telecommunications law, she focuses on issues related to the use of the radio frequency spectrum and satellite orbits, operation of geostationary and non-geostationary satellites, provision of access to the satellite capacity and satellite telecommunications services. Elina Morozova earned two university degrees in international law and world economy from the All-Russian Academy of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation and holds an LL.M in International Business Law from the University of Manchester. She is a member of the Russian Association of International Law, heads the working group for the revision of the regulatory instruments of the Regional Commonwealth in the Field of Communications (RCC) and serves as Director on the Board of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL).

Victoria Samson

Victoria Samson is the Washington Office Director for Secure World Foundation and has over twenty-five years of experience in military space and security issues.

Before joining SWF, Ms. Samson served as a Senior Analyst for the Center for Defense Information (CDI), where she leveraged her expertise in missile defense, nuclear reductions, and space security issues to conduct in-depth analysis and media commentary. Prior to her time at CDI, Ms. Samson was the Senior Policy Associate at the Coalition to Reduce Nuclear Dangers, a consortium of arms control groups in the Washington, D.C. area, where she worked with Congressional staffers, members of the media, embassy officials, citizens, and think-tanks on issues related to ballistic missile defense and nuclear weapons reduction. Before that, she was a researcher at Riverside Research Institute, where she worked on war-gaming scenarios for the Missile Defense Agency's Directorate of Intelligence.

Known throughout the space and security arena as a thought leader on policy and budgetary issues, Ms. Samson is often interviewed by multinational media outlets, including the New York Times, Space News, and NPR. She is also a prolific author of numerous op-eds, analytical pieces, journal articles, and updates on missile defense and space security matters. She is also a member of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) committee on space security and the Space Security Working Group of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM)’s Committee on International Security and Arms Control (CISAC).

 

 

The opinions of the attending speakers are solely their personal view. They neither represent their country of nationality nor their institution.

 

Back to top