Where Will Your Legal Education Take You?

Graphic by Alondra Pulido

Space lawyers deal mostly with international law and help draft treaties governing the activities and exploration of outer space. For example, space lawyers have helped establish the principle that no country can “own” the Moon, the planets, or other celestial bodies. Some space lawyers, however, also work on national policy governing space-related activities. Unsurprisingly, many of these lawyers working on the national level can be found in the United States and the Russian Federation.

One responsibility of space lawyers is handling liability cases for damages caused by space objects as outlined in Article 7 of the Outer Space Treaty, also known as the 1972 Space Liability Convention. A claim was filed under the Convention by the Canadian government in 1978 after a Soviet satellite, Cosmos 954 (Ко́смос), scattered radioactive debris over northern Canada. The cleanup of the satellite debris was a joint effort by the Canadian and American governments and was known as Operation Morning Light. The operation covered approximately 48,000 square miles, and the Canadian government billed the Soviet Union $6,041,174.40 (CAD) for their recovery expenses, though the Soviet government only paid half of that amount. 

Space lawyers have helped develop the Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts (the Rescue Agreement), which requires nations to take all necessary measures to rescue and assist astronauts in distress. This helps explain why, in the 2013 film Gravity, Sandra Bullock can use the Chinese space station Tiangong and the Chinese spacecraft Shenzhou to return to Earth after space debris kills her crew and destroys their space shuttle. However, at the end of Gravity, the Tiangong breaks apart while Sandra Bullock is returning to earth, scattering the debris across an unspecified country. It is likely that this country was entitled to compensation for these damages under the 1972 Space Liability Convention.

Photo by NASA on Unsplash

Another option for law students is the Technology Law and Public Policy Clinic, where clinicians work with a project team to address an issue involving high tech and public policy. Past clinicians have worked on policies such as Washington House Bill 1788 (which outlawed non-consensual/"revenge" pornography) and Washington House Bill 2970 (which established an autonomous vehicle workgroup).

• Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts and the Return of Objects Launched into Outer Space [United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs]

• Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects [United Nations]

• Cosmos 954 and the International Law of Satellite Accidents [Alexander F. Cohen, 10 Yale J. Int'l L. (1984)] 

• Gravity (2013 film) [Wikipedia]

• The Life and Death of Cosmos 954 [Gus W. Weiss, Central Intelligence Agency (1983)]

• National Space Law Collection [United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs]

• Space Law [United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs]

• Outer Space Initiative [The Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, UW] 

• Space Law Treaties and Principles [United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs]

• Technology Law and Public Policy Clinic [University of Washington School of Law]

• University of Washington School of Law Faculty:

  • William Covington - UW Director of the Technology Law & Public Policy Clinic

  • Toshiko Takenaka - UW Professor of Technology Law

    Researches and teaches in patent and trademark law.