Solving the Global Challenges of the Future

Advisory Board

Ioana Bratu

Founder

Dr Ioana Bratu is Assistant Professor at Vrije University Amsterdam, Co-Director of Amsterdam Law & Technology Institute, and Affiliate of Paris Cité Université.

Her PhD, Charting the uncharted waters: non-contractual liabilities for damage caused by GNSS-enabled AI systems, was the first to address the synergy Space Law - Artificial Intelligence, laying the foundation for future research in the field. She holds an Executive MBA from Vienna University of Economics and Business and she has practiced law for 10 years part of international law firms (Allen & Overy, Wolf Theiss) and as the owner of her own private practice. She is a Member of the International Institute of Space Law.

Mahulena Hofmann

Board Member

Mahulena Hofmann is Professor at the Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance, University of Luxembourg, SES Chair in Satellite Communications and Media Law, Member of the Board of Directors of the International Institute of Space Law and Arbitrator with the Permanent Court of Arbitration for disputes related to space activities. In addition to her academic roles, Professor Hofmann actively contributes to the development of space law and policy. She is an ad hoc member of Luxembourg's delegation to the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) and has been involved in key international projects and workshops examining the legal aspects of sustainable space resources.

Frans von der Dunk

Board Member

Frans von der Dunk is the Harvey and Susan Perlman Alumni / Othmer Professor of Space Law at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s LL.M. Programme on Space and Telecommunication Law. He also is Director of Black Holes BV, Consultancy in space law and policy, based in Leiden and a Member of the Board of Directors of the International Institute of Space Law. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Award of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL) of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) in Vancouver, in October 2004, the Social Science Award of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) in Valencia, in October 2006, and the 2015 Social Science Book Award, International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), for the Handbook of Space Law, Jerusalem, October 2015.

Steven Freeland

Board Member

Steven Freeland is Emeritus Professor at Western Sydney University and Professorial Fellow at Bond University. He also holds Visiting/Adjunct positions at various other Universities/Institutes in Copenhagen, Vienna, Toulouse, Hong Kong, Montreal, Kuala Lumpur, Vancouver, Mumbai and London. He has been an advisor to the Australian, New Zealand, Norwegian and several other Governments on issues relating to national space legislative frameworks and policy. He represents the Australian Government UNCOPUOS and, in June 2021, was appointed by UNCOPUOS as Vice-Chair of a 5-year ‘Working Group on Legal Aspects of Space Resource Activities’. He is a co-Principal of specialised space law firm Azimuth Advisory, a Member of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Future Council on the Future of Space, a Member of the Abu Dhabi Space Debate Strategy Council, an Honorary Director of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL), a Member of the Advisory Board of the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC), and a Member of the Space Law Committee of the International Law Association. In 2022, he was presented with a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ by the International Institute of Space Law, the highest accolade awarded by that institution.

P.J. Blount

Board Member

Dr P.J. Blount is a Lecturer in Law in the School of Law and Politics at Cardiff University. He is also a visiting scholar at Mae Fah Luang University in Chiang Rai, Thailand. Previously, he served as an adjunct professor for the LL.M. in the Air and Space Law at the University of Mississippi School of Law, a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Luxembourg, an adjunct professor at Montclair State University, and a Visiting Scholar at the Beijing Institute of Technology School of Law. He serves as the Executive Secretary of the International Institute of Space Law.