{"id":130148,"date":"2023-06-29T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-29T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=130148"},"modified":"2023-06-28T17:56:31","modified_gmt":"2023-06-28T22:56:31","slug":"rules-of-the-final-frontier-ole-miss-students-ponder-space-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/rules-of-the-final-frontier-ole-miss-students-ponder-space-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Rules of the Final Frontier: Ole Miss Students Ponder Space Law"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Students, recent graduates present at conference on the laws governing space\u00a0<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Each time a person swipes their credit card, fills up their car or turns on Netflix<\/strong>, satellites thousands of miles above the Earth\u2019s surface work to make those transactions possible.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outer space has become inextricably linked to everyday life, but what are the laws governing space?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

University of Mississippi<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>students, graduates and Michelle Hanlon<\/strong>, co-director of the\u00a0Center for Air and Space Law<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0at the\u00a0School of Law<\/strong><\/a>, posed that question at the recent\u00a041st annual International Space Development Conference<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in Frisco, Texas<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverything we do today is related to space,\u201d Hanlon said. \u201cThis affects everybody in the world. We need to have people thinking about, \u2018Do we really want people to mine the moon?\u2019 We have to bring more people into that conversation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat we did, our Mississippi cohort, was challenge the audience to think about questions that we\u2019ve never thought about before.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four current or former air and space law students presented different facets of the discussion surrounding the laws of space while Hanlon chaired each panel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Master of Law students Leach Cheli<\/strong> and Ed Koellner<\/strong> joined alumni Alexandra Dolce<\/strong> and Ian Perry<\/strong> to discuss the rules and regulatory bodies surrounding space exploration, transactions, and liability claims.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the things we\u2019re really focusing on at the center is amplifying new voices and young voices,\u201d Hanlon said. \u201cIt’s the people in their 20s and 30s now who will be living in this new world.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s so important that we understand what our goals are and what the law says. Our students are looking at the laws and not just seeing the gaps, but finding solutions to those gaps.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheli, from Orlando, Florida<\/strong>, spoke on the possibility of a central commerce department for space regulations. Dolce, of New York City<\/strong>, presented her idea of a permanent court to handle legal issues surrounding space commerce. Ian Perry<\/strong>, of Milford<\/strong>, Texas, showed audience members gaps in liability law as it regards spaceborne property.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Koellner, a San Antonio<\/strong> resident who will finish his Master of Laws in spring 2024, presented on the necessity and intricacy of cybersecurity, particularly between satellites and ground stations, where many transactions happen.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t know all the things that satellites are bringing to you,\u201d Koellner said. \u201cWe take GPS for granted. Each satellite bounces the signal down to its ground station. Could someone hack into that and get that information? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCould someone shut down the GPS system, and how would that affect airlines or the navigation in a car?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pondering the liability of property damage in outer space may once have existed only in science fiction, but those questions are becoming more and more relevant, Hanlon said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSpace affects commerce in a lot of different ways, and we have to know, in terms of laws, how this will affect us,\u201d Dolce said. \u201cIf a child is born on a space station, what nationality is that child? It\u2019s not going to be an issue until it\u2019s an issue. Everything is interconnected with the law.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A record\u00a0180 rockets successfully launched into space in 2022,<\/a>\u00a0surpassing the previous record by more than 40. There are\u00a0more than 8,000 satellites in orbit around Earth<\/strong><\/a>, not counting those that are now inactive.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If one satellite crashes into another at 175,000 miles per hour in orbit, who pays for the damages? What regulatory body decides?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really the only institution in the world that is focused on figuring this out right now,\u201d Hanlon said. \u201cWhen we turn out our LL.M. \u2013 Master of Laws \u2013 graduates, they need to be solving problems right now because they’re cropping up right now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Clara Turnage<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
<\/a>Students and recent graduates of the UM School of Law\u2019s Center for Air and Space Law program recently
spoke on panels at the 41st annual International Space Development Conference. Pictured here are
Leah Cheli, Master of Law student, front left; Alex Dolce, a recent graduate of the School of Law, second
from left, front row; Ed Koelner, master of law student, first from left, second row; Allison Lewis, Center
for Air and Space Law program manager, third from left, front row; Ian Perry, a graduate of the UM
School of Law, second from left, second row; Michelle Hanlon, co-director of the Center for Air and
Space Law, second from right and Wes Faires, who earned his graduate certificate from the center in the
spring of 2023. Submitted photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Michelle Hanlon, Law School. Photo by Kevin Bain\/The University of Mississippi Marketing Communications<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Photo by Robert Jordan\/Ole Miss Communications<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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