A conversation with Prof. Steven Freeland about the relevance/obsolescence of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, the 1979 Moon Agreement, space resources, competing legal regimes, rules-based governance, geopolitical rivalry and lunar futures.
Biography: Steven Freeland
Steven Freeland is Emeritus Professor of International Law at Western Sydney University, and Professorial Fellow at Bond University. He also holds Adjunct positions at various other Universities/Institutes in Copenhagen, Vienna, Toulouse, Hong Kong, Montreal, Kuala Lumpur, Vancouver, Mumbai and London.
Prior to becoming an academic, he had a 20-year career as an international commercial lawyer and an investment banker.
He was a Member of the Australian Space Agency Advisory Board (2020-2024) and has been an advisor to many Governments on issues relating to national space legislative frameworks and policy. He represents the Australian Government at UNCOPUOS meetings and is Chair of a 5-year ‘Working Group on Legal Aspects of Space Resource Activities’.
Among other appointments, he is a co-Principal of specialised space law firm Azimuth Advisory, a Member of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on the Future of Space, a Member of the Abu Dhabi Space Debate Strategy Council, and an Honorary Director of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL).
Recorded on 23 July 2025