Skip to main content

Dispute Resolution in the Space Industry Conference Programme

Please note the programme may be subject to change.


Day 1: Tuesday 13 May 2025

Time Agenda
9.30–10.00 Executive Lounge, Fourth Floor
Registration, tea and coffee
10.00–10.30 Room WB-2018
Welcome from Colin Bain, Pro Vice Chancellor for Research, Durham University, and Can Eken, Durham Law School, Co-Director of Durham International Dispute Resolution Institute
10.30–11.30 Room WB-2018
Keynote + Q&A from Anu Ojha OBE
11.30–13.00

Room WB-2018
Panel 1: Emerging Technology and Future Challenges

As space activity accelerates, emerging technologies bring new challenges to the governance of outer space. This panel will explore recent and expected advancements in space situational awareness and their implications for legal frameworks and dispute resolution.

Talks:

  • James Osborn – Over the Horizon: The Technology Behind Space Situational Awareness
  • Martin Ward – Future Risk Scenarios:  A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall…
  • PJ Blount – Now Trending: Do we need a Special Mechanism for Space Disputes?
  • Martin Elvis – Triggers for disputes over space resources: a quantitative look

Moderator: Professor Petra Minnerop

13.00–14.00 Executive Lounge, Fourth Floor
Lunch
14.00–15.30

Room WB-2018
Panel 2: The Nature of Space Disputes

As space becomes increasingly contested and commercialized, disputes are inevitable. Resolving these disputes requires a blend of legal, diplomatic and technological solutions. This panel will examine the types of disputes emerging in the space sector and the mechanisms available to address them.

Talks

  • Mahulena Hofman – Dispute Settlement for Space
  • Oliver Grazebrook – Typical Disputes Seen in the Satellite Industry: An In-House Lawyer’s View
  • Berna Akcali Gur – Data Gathering in Lunar Conflict: Exploring the Potential of Neutral Surveillance Systems
  • Ata Türkfiliz – Resolution of Space Tort Disputes: Challenges and Mechanisms in the New Space Age

Moderator: Can Eken

15.30–16.00 Executive Lounge, Fourth Floor
Tea & Coffee
16.00–17.30

Room WB-2018
Panel 3: Mitigating Risk in Space Interactions

Managing risk in space goes beyond technical failures—financial, political, and reputational challenges all play a role. This panel will explore issues related to insurance and how forward-thinking public relations strategies can mitigate fallout from disputes or accidents.

Talks:

  • Onur Durak – Satellite Insurance: Current Developments and Challenges
  • Neil Stevens and Yuk Chi Chan – The Future Challenges of Insuring Space Assets

Moderator: Ronan Feehilly

   

Day 2: Wednesday 14 May 2025

Time Agenda
9.30–10.00 Bistro
Tea & Coffee
10.00–10.30 Room WB-2018
Welcome from Professor Volker Roeben, Dean of Durham Law School
10.30–12.00

Room WB-2018
Panel 4: Alternative Dispute Resolution in Space

As space commerce and cooperation expand, so do legal conflicts—raising the question of how best to resolve them. This panel will explore the role of ADR in settling space disputes. With no clear court for space conflicts, could arbitration or mediation be the key to maintaining stability beyond Earth?

Talks:

  • Jonathan Fernandes – Trends in the arbitration of satellite-related disputes: an evidence-led analysis
  • David Sixsmith and Chris Newman – Space Mediation in the New World Order

Moderator: Ayten Dogan

12.00–13.00 Room WB-2018
Keynote + Q&A  - TBC
13.00–14.00 Bistro
Lunch
14.00–15.30

Room WB-0001
Panel 5: Key Issues in Future Governance

As space activity accelerates, governance frameworks must evolve to address emerging challenges. This panel will explore key issues touching on resource rights, security concerns, regulatory gaps, and international cooperation.

Talks:

  • Gunes Unuvar – Governing Foreign Investment Beyond Earth: International Investment Law and Outer Space Activities
  • David Eagleson – Understanding the Immunities of the European Space Agency in the Context of Space Sector Disputes
  • Ralph Dinsley – Access to and Sustainable Management of Northern European Airspace

Moderator: Joanna Berry

15.30–16.00 Closing Remarks

 

Durham University Space Research Centre

For a sustainable future in space

Durham University Space Research Centre

Durham University Space Research Centre
Department of Physics
Ogden Centre for Fundamental Physics (West)
South Road
Durham, DH1 3LE

E: sparc@durham.ac.uk