Where law meets the cosmos

“It’s easy to hear ‘space law’ and think of science fiction,” says Potter. “But it’s really just the application of law to a new domain: outer space. That can mean everything from international treaties to intellectual property to contract law, implicating questions of liability, security, and sustainability.” And with ever more private companies launching satellites and preparing missions to the moon, the legal dimensions of space are no longer abstract, Wang and Potter say. These questions are unfolding now, and their scope will only continue to expand.

Space law is often described as a subset of international law, Wang says, rooted in five core treaties, most of which were negotiated in the 1960s. Those agreements, among them the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, were designed largely to prevent military conflict in space and to set broad principles for exploration and use of outer space.

But today, the field extends far beyond those foundational documents. Domestic regulations, bilateral agreements, corporate contracts, and even labor and employment law (space station astronauts need workplace protections too) are all part of the emerging legal framework.

“At a basic level, one aspect of space law involves transporting things from Earth to different points in orbit or beyond,” Wang says. “There are similarities with maritime law, except that with the oceans, we’ve had thousands of years to build custom and precedent. In space, we’re just starting.”

Even the question of where “space” begins remains unsettled, Wang notes. International aviation law applies to aircraft, while space law governs spacecraft—but no consensus exists on the altitude at which one domain ends and the other begins.

At the center of the space boom

Although some of Stanford’s peer law schools also have space law societies, Stanford stands apart, the SSLS founders agree—not least because it now hosts the only student-run publication dedicated to the subject. Location matters too. “On the West Coast, and especially in Silicon Valley, space is happening all around us,” Wang explains. “Startups, venture capital, aerospace engineering—it’s all here. Stanford is uniquely positioned to bring law into that conversation.”

The society has also benefited from its interdisciplinary ties. Stanford’s engineering students, many of whom are active in the Stanford Student Space Initiative—which designs and launches satellites from an underground campus lab—routinely collaborate with the law students. “What’s special about Stanford is that even the engineers care deeply about policy questions,” Wang says. “They don’t just want to build rockets. They want to talk about their impact.”

As Wang wrote in the first edition of Stanford Space Law and Policy Perspectives:

“Indeed, Stanford has long been at the forefront of human advancements in space. Many early astronauts, including Sally Ride and Mae Jemison, the first American woman and first African American woman in space, respectively, were Stanford graduates. Many more were involved in cutting-edge space missions in the U.S. and abroad – the Hubble Space Telescope, Space Shuttle, the International Space Station. CubeSats – standardized, economic satellites that measure 10 centimeters on every side and have a mass of around 2 kilograms – were first developed as a student project in the late 1990s by Bob Twiggs, a Stanford graduate and then‑consulting professor in the Space Systems Development Laboratory.”

From ideas to action

During its inaugural academic year, SSLS organized a packed calendar of events and activities: guest lectures by VCs and startup founders like Skybox Imaging’s Dan Berkenstock (who sold his company to Google), a visit to the Hoover Institution archives to view Apollo-era photographs, and career panels with practicing attorneys. Members also traveled to Long Beach, an emerging “Space Beach” hub of aerospace startups, to attend a major international conference.

This fall, SSLS is continuing and expanding its programming, including panels on cybersecurity and artificial intelligence in space, as well as helping to develop a new Stanford Law and Policy Lab course. “It’s something we’ve wanted since day one,” Potter says of the potential Policy Lab project, “a chance for Stanford students to work with client organizations on real-world space policy challenges.”

Alumni involvement, she adds, is crucial: “We want this to be a hub people can return to—for networking, for publishing, for launching careers. Even if you’re not practicing space law now, you might later. If you think space law is just about astronauts and sci-fi, come to one of our events. Chances are, you’ll find a way your own interests fit in. There’s room for everyone in space.”