United Kingdom Parliament
I have contributed written and oral evidence to inquires conducted by the UK Parliament Scottish Affairs Committee, offering analysis on the international political and legal implications of space technologies and the Scottish space sector specifically.
Scotland’s Space Sector: written evidence (November 2023).
Inquiry in Defence in Scotland: written evidence (January 2023) and oral evidence (April 2023).
Outer space security
I contributed to a joint submission by Project Ploughshares and the Outer Space Institute (coordinated by Dr Jessica West of Project Ploughshares) as part of the preparations for the United Nations’ Summit of the Future. Written inputs from civil society informed the development of the “zero draft” of the Pact for the Future that will be negotiated and endorsed by governments at the Summit in September 2024. Our submission highlights key challenges for outer space security and sustainability and proposes practical, achievable initiatives to enhance governance of this increasingly critical domain. The submission can be found here.
Along with colleagues from the Outer Space Institute, I co-authored the OSI’s submission on “Non-Kinetic Anti-Satellite Weapons (ASATs)” submitted to the third substantive session of the UN Open-Ended Working Group on “Reducing Space Threats through norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviours” (30 January – 3 February 2023). The OEWG website is here. The OSI submission can be found here.
I am a signatory to two open letters organised by the Outer Space Institute, calling on the United Nations to commence efforts to negotiate multilateral agreements aimed at preserving the outer space environment and ensuring the sustainable uses of Earth orbit. These initiatives are led by Professor Aaron Boley and Professor Michael Byers of the OSI, and feature endorsements from distinguished space scientists, academics, former politicians and diplomats, and industry representatives. The most recent letter (September 2021) urges states to ban the testing of kinetic anti-satellite weapons that cause dangerous debris. The previous letter (August 2020) calls for regulations on the exploitation of natural resources in outer space. An article about the initiative can be found here.