Who is responsible when satellites collide? How should the commercial exploitation of celestial bodies—such as mining rare earth elements from asteroids or extracting frozen water from the lunar poles—be regulated? And how can we respond to the militarization of Earth’s orbit or the growing problem of space debris? These pressing legal questions lie at the heart of EUSPIL – EU Space Policy, International Law and Sustainability, a Jean Monnet project led by Claudia Cinelli, Professor of International Law in the Department of Political Science at the University of Pisa.
“With the exponential rise in satellites and space missions, the need for a robust legal framework governing activities beyond Earth’s atmosphere has never been more urgent,” says Cinelli. “We must avoid turning outer space into a technological ‘Wild West’ that threatens international cooperation and long-term sustainability. In this context, the European Union can play a leading role in promoting shared standards and protecting the peaceful use of space.”
Currently, space law is based on the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, complemented by instruments such as the 1972 Liability Convention on international responsibility for damage caused by space objects. However, the rapid evolution of technology and the increasing involvement of private actors—including so-called “mega-constellations”—have raised new challenges that current legal tools do not address in sufficient detail.
EUSPIL aims to explore these legal grey areas through a European lens. The project’s goals include training a new generation of professionals specialized in space affairs and building a network of legal scholars, policymakers, regulators, and space agencies to ensure that the final frontier remains a place of peaceful cooperation, rather than conflict or unregulated exploitation.
Thanks to EUSPIL, the University of Pisa will be among the first Italian universities to offer a master’s level course entirely focused on international and EU space law. Starting in the 2025–2026 academic year, the Department of Political Science will launch the English-taught course International Law, Outer Space and European Union, led by Professor Cinelli. A series of open seminars will also be available to PhD students.
From 2022 to 2023, Professor Cinelli also led the international project Advancing Responsible State Behavior in Outer Space, funded by the MIT-Italy – University of Pisa Seed Fund. Her passion for international legal regimes, including those governing outer space, is also reflected in her 2020 monograph Il diritto degli spazi internazionali, inclusi lo spazio extra-atmosferico (The Law of International Spaces, Including Outer Space).
Other University of Pisa faculty members involved in the project include Giovanni Federico Gronchi (Department of Mathematics), Simone Marinai (Department of Law), and Simone Paoli and Sara Poli (Department of Political Science), contributing to the interdisciplinary nature of this forward-looking initiative.
(Translation supported by ChatGPT)
