IISS Workshop on Strengthening Space Safety and Security

The IISS workshop on “Strengthening Space Safety and Security: Assessing Multilateral Processes and Advancing Practical Pathways,” taking place on Thursday, September 3, will consider how multilateral efforts to prevent an arms race in outer space and reduce risks to all space users are increasingly strained by the geopolitical context.

Key concerns include space debris, dual-use capabilities such as rendezvous and proximity operations, GPS jamming, the risk of miscalculation and unintended escalation, and the placement of nuclear weapons in Earth orbit. Against this backdrop, and amid the difficulty of agreeing new rules in the current context, this one-day workshop will convene diplomats, practitioners, and experts from across the space safety and security communities to assess these challenges and explore practical ways to strengthen space safety and security using existing international legal frameworks, tools, and mechanisms.

Discussions will examine how the Outer Space Treaty, the UN Charter, international humanitarian law, and other legal frameworks can contribute to a coherent and effective normative architecture. The workshop aims to stimulate fresh thinking, generate new ideas, and identify concrete measures to support, build on, and complement international efforts to reduce space risks.

Almudena Azcárate Ortega, SWF Senior Program Analyst, Space Law and Regulation, will speak during the second panel of the workshop, titled “Harnessing International Space Law for Space Safety and Security.” The panel will examine how the Outer Space Treaty and broader international space law address today’s safety and security challenges, where gaps remain, and how existing tools and frameworks can be used to close them. For more information, please contact Almudena Azcárate Ortega.