FutureSpace Talks
What does an asteroid taste like? How does design shape our cosmic imaginations? And what’s wrong with the way we periodise the Space Age?
FutureSpace Talks is an online series, curated and hosted by the FutureSpace team, showcasing researchers who critically engage with Earth—space relations and explore possible futures on and off planet.
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FutureSpace Talk #20 | Alban Guyomarc’h
Thursday, 8 October 2026 · 16:00–17:00 CEST
Space Law, Space Powers and Spacefaring Power: The Strategic Turn in Space Law
The economic instrumentalization of national space laws, the emergence of hybrid legal instruments such as the Artemis Accords, the growing involvement of private actors in international space discussions, and the contestation of the foundational principles of international space law: all these phenomena are symptomatic of a strategic turn in space law. This presentation seeks to examine the renewed strategic instrumentalization of space law by the very actors responsible for its elaboration and implementation. It focuses on the correlation between spacefaring power and influence over the making of this renewed space law, and introduces the concept of “multifront legal strategies” to capture how this instrumentalization unfolds across multiple legal and institutional arenas. Outer space, and the activities conducted therein, thus becomes a compelling case study through which to interrogate, from this particular vantage point, the broader relationship between geopolitics and law—one that is all the more salient in technological domains.
Alban Guyomarc’h is a graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure and a doctoral student in private international law at the Université Paris Panthéon-Assas since 2021, and is writing a thesis on “Space activities under private international law and international trade law”. From 2024 to 2026, he held a research position at the Collège de France, in Pr. Samantha Besson’s Chair. He is also an associate researcher of the Space Chair of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, where he teaches Space Law. His research also explores space geopolitics, lunar exploration and philosophical aspects of space endeavors. Alongside, he coordinated a number of cross-industry studies on lunar exploration programs, notably for the French Association on Research and Technology (ANRT). He regularly contributes to French media discussions on space activities and lunar exploration.
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