Law Matters: A Conversation With Professor Chris Borgen

While space has been called the final frontier, it’s also an expansive area of law and policy that Professor Chris Borgen, Co-Director of the Law School’s Center for International and Comparative Law, explores through his legal research and writing, as well as in the classroom. Among other activities in the field, Professor Borgen was one of the Core Experts for the Woomera Manual, which applies international law to military activities in outer space. Here, in conversation with Dean Jelani Jefferson Exum for our Law Matters story series, he offers insights into space law and its implications not only for what happens in space but also for our lives on Earth.

JJE: Can you explain what space law is and why we need rules governing what happens in space?

CB: Space law is the international law and domestic law that regulates human activities in space: everything from Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites helping you find the fastest route home, to millionaires flying to space in commercial rockets, to astronauts spending months on the International Space Station and, maybe one day, to humanity establishing bases on the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Space is an area beyond national jurisdiction, but that doesn’t mean it’s lawless. 

JJE: What drew you to research, write, and teach about space law and policy?

CB: I’ve been fascinated by astronomy and space exploration since I was a child, but I didn’t connect that interest with my career as a lawyer and law professor until I started writing essays about legal issues related to asteroid mining and other similar topics. I combined my new interest in the legal aspects of space operations with my existing work in law and international conflict and focused on military space activities. From there, I broadened my scope to consider the complex relationships between national regulations and international law concerning space. Besides my scholarship, I created a Space Law course for St. John’s in 2021. I tell my students that this is a class both for space geeks and for law geeks. The space geek part is obvious. But the law geek stuff is also why I love teaching this course. We explore how society does—and at times doesn’t—regulate a rapidly evolving, cutting-edge technology that’s being employed beyond the territorial jurisdiction of any country. Students hone skills in legal interpretation and problem-solving in a complex regulatory environment. +

JJE: You have noted that outer space used to be the domain of a few superpowers, but now many different actors are involved. How does having so many players complicate policymaking?

CB: A common saying is that space is congested, contested, and competitive. We’ve gone from it being the exclusive realm of superpowers to middle schools having satellites in orbit. About 10 years ago, there were maybe 1,500 operational satellites in orbit. Today, there are about 15,000. Individual companies and countries are registering plans to launch thousands—or tens of thousands—of satellites in their own constellations. SpaceX has recently stated its intention to launch a constellation of one million orbiting data centers. The regulatory challenges today—and tomorrow—are staggering for those who want to foster sustainable and equitable space activities, but that’s also what makes it such an exciting field. 

JJE: You have emphasized the idea of space governance, not just space law. How does that broader governance approach help policymakers manage emerging risks?

CB: The variety of actors and activities in space is expanding, and the economic and security stakes are increasing. But the main space law treaties are over a half century old. And, due to current geopolitics, it’s unlikely that states will negotiate significant new space law treaties any time soon. Consequently, the interpretation of existing sources of law is crucial. Other tools that might be persuasive, although not legally-binding, are also important in affecting how countries and companies act in space. For example, industry codes of conduct and the elucidation of “best practices” can address risks and clarify expectations. 

JJE: What is at stake if governments and companies fail to act responsibly in space?

CB: Space infrastructure is part of the wiring of the modern world. Space is also where some have hopes and dreams for what is yet to come for humanity. Whether our future in space will be one of conflict or cooperation, one that will be inclusive and inspirational or exclusionary and confrontational, will in part be determined by whether and how our space activities will—or will not—be shaped by the rule of law. Just like here on Earth.

This interview originally appeared in the 2026 St. John’s Law magazine, which is now online.