NZ’s Space Law Growth: Including for Space Lawyers

NZ's Space Law Growth: Including for Space Lawyers

The development of companies like RocketLab, the explosion of drone manufacturing and use and New Zealand’s increased focus on Space issues has moved the country closer to the issues relating to space law. And one of New Zealand’s leading Space Lawyers Dr Maria Pozza of Gravity Lawyers has said that New Zealand has the potential to become a world leader in the area.

We last wrote about Maria Pozza in LawFuel in 2019 as a trailblazing lawyer who ‘fell into’ space law when studying international law and subsequently working in corporate law with a focus upon aeronautics and related issues.

A director of Otago’s Foreign Policy School, about to hold its 56th annual meeting, she speaks of the momentous growth of the space industry, which holds career potential for those working within the area, including space lawyers

New Zealand has the potential to become a global leader for low Earth orbit activities, she says, and she notes a unique advantage the country has.

“The country sits at an important juncture, given both its regulatory infrastructure and unique positioning on the globe. However, this means that, now more than ever, New Zealand must work to collaborate with its partners for security, and this is especially true when shaping its own foreign policy,” she told MirageNews.

She notes that one of the issues New Zealand has, apart from its own space programme, is the question of space debris, which has become increasingly important, as witnessed with recent ‘falling to earth’ of debris from Chinese and Russian satellites and other space craft.

She said that commercial human space exploration is on the rise, more space agencies are being set up, and more nations are now spending time in developing their domestic space laws, which in turn brings more demands for ‘space lawyers’ who can assist in developing and implementing laws relating to the space developments occurring on our front door. Or just above.

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