International Relations: The Space Ethics Frontier

As activity in space accelerates—from satellite constellations to lunar missions, resource extraction, and exploration beyond Earth—who sets the rules, and who stands to benefit? In this conversation, space law expert Stephan Hobe and astrophysicist Gioia Rau discuss controversial perspectives on governance and discovery to unpack spaceas a scientific frontier, as well as an emerging economic and political sphere.

With the Moon as a testing ground for a new space race, how are norms and rules being shaped in real time? Can existing legal frameworks keep pace with commercial ambitions, geopolitical interests, and technological breakthroughs? Who has the right to extract, benefit, and profit from space resources—and how are those benefits shared? And as we expand further into space, can it remain a global commons, or is competition for access and ownership already reshaping the rules?

Featuring Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Dr. h.c. Stephan Hobe (Director of the Institute for Air Law, Space Law and Cyber Law and Chair for Public Internation Law, European Law, European and International Economic Law at the University of Cologne) and Prof. Gioia Rau, (The Catholic University of America, Program Director at National Science Foundation)

In Partnership with University Cologne New York Office

Location: Spacious Studio 1, 873 Broadway, Second Floor, NY, NY 10003

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Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Dr. h.c. Stephan Hobe is the director of the Institute of Air Law, Space Law and Cyber Law as well as co-director of the International Investment Law Centre Cologne. He is member of various scientific associations, inter alia the President of the German Society of International Law, Vice President of the German Association of International Law (German ILA), former member and now honorary member of the Board of Directors on the International Institute of Space Law, and Committee/Board Member of the European Air Law Association as well as of the European Centre for Space Law.

His scientific ouevre encompasses 3 books on public international law (11th ed. 2020), European law(11th ed. 2023) and Space Law (2nd. ed. 2023) as well as editorships (e.g. of the Cologne Commentary on Space Law) and the Cologne Compendium on Air Law. He is also the editor of the German Journal of Air and Space Law (ZLW). Moreover, he has published approx. 350 articles on German public law, public international law, international investment law, air law, space law and cyber law.

He teaches as a guest professor at various universities in Europe, Africa and Asia, is the co-founder of the Institute of Air and Space Law at the Gujarat National Law University, Ghandinagar, Gujarat, India and holds honorary doctoral degrees from the Universities of Sofia, Bulgaria and the Aviation University in Kiev, Ukraine.

Dr. Gioia Rau joined Catholic University of America in November 2017, working at Goddard Space Flight Center in the Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics lab.

Dr. Rau studies the atmospheres of cool, giant stars, focusing on their chromospheric and atmospheric activity. She does so combining high-spectral resolution space-based Hubble Space Telescope data, with high-angular resolution ground-based interferometric data from observatories such as CHARA, ESO’s VLTI, and ALMA. She has been awarded several observing proposals as PI and Co-I.

Before that, in 2017, she was a visiting research scientist at ESO/Garching (Germany), after completing her PhD in Vienna (Austria, 2012-2016) on the study of Atmospheres of carbon-rich Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars, which received the prestigious fellowship grant "Abschlussstipendium, Universität Wien".

She received her Master degree with honors (cum laude) at La Sapienza University in 2011. In the final year of her Master she was awarded, for being 1 of the 4 students among the whole Science faculty (including Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology) having the highest-grade point average, the prestigious “Master Thesis' fellowship abroad”. Thanks to this she developed her Master Thesis at NASA/JPL-CalTech.

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