The Centre for International Law (CIL) is pleased to host Protection, Resilience, and Legal Gaps in Dual-Use Space Systems, an online seminar examining one of the increasingly important challenges facing international space law and the law of armed conflict.

Modern space systems rarely fit neatly within civilian or military categories. Communications, navigation, Earth observation and other space-based capabilities can support civilian life, critical infrastructure and military operations simultaneously. This growing dependence on dual-use systems raises difficult questions about their protection during armed conflict, resilience against disruption, targeting, responsibility, and whether existing international legal frameworks adequately address contemporary space operations.

Chaired by Dr Samuel White, the seminar brings together Kristina Novakovic, Duncan Blake, Robert Rovetto and Dale Stephens for a multidisciplinary discussion spanning international law, military and space law, strategy, ethics, engineering and space safety.

The seminar also builds upon themes explored in the recently published Springer volume, The Issue of Dual Use in Space: Balancing Innovation, Law and Security.

The event forms part of CIL’s continuing engagement with the legal challenges posed by emerging technologies, security and the changing character of activities in outer space.

PROFILES OF CHAIR AND PANELLISTS

Samuel White (Chair)

Samuel White is a Global Fellow at the Centre for International Law, and Scientia Senior Lecturer in Military Law and War Studies at The University of New South Wales (UNSW) Canberra.

Kristina Novakovic 

Kristina Novakovic is an associate researcher at RAND Australia. Her research areas of expertise span the intersection of ethics, emerging technologies, and national security. Currently, she is focused on governance and ethics of AI, space technologies, and the rethinking extended nuclear deterrence in the Indo-Pacific, and examines these fields through the lens of normative ethics and organizational theory. She has a PhD from UNSW in International and Security Studies. 

Duncan Blake

Duncan Blake is a lecturer in military and space law and strategy at UNSW Canberra. He is on the cusp of completing PhD research at Adelaide University on the intersection of space law and the laws of war - particularly on reconciling apparently conflicting legal rules. Duncan spent 22 years as a permanent RAAF Legal Officer, including several deployments to the Middle East. He initiated the projects that subsequently became MILAMOS and the Woomera Manual on the International Law of Military Space Activities and Operations, and had a role as Managing Editor throughout much of the Woomera Manual project. He is a co-editor of a forthcoming volume on duality in the space domain to be published by Springer.

Robert Rovetto

Robert Rovetto is presently a PhD HDR at the ADFA campus of UNSW in Aerospace Engineering, startup Founder, multi-disciplinary researcher, and search and rescue (sar) first-responder, open to opportunities globally. Focus areas include: interdisciplinary aerospace research, boat operations, water sar, philosophy, and conceptual modeling. Space topics of interest range from space policy and law to spaceflight operations and safety and the application of AI techniques such as knowledge representation to the same. Other interests include photography, ethical leadership, healthy teamwork, and workplace psychosocial safety. Space domain activities and work since 2019 include: serving within national and international aerospace groups and committees, global standards development, collaborative projects, and both sole- and co-authored publications on topics such as space traffic management and coordination, space data, space situational awareness, and terminology. Other than a passion for space, Robert has paid and unpaid experience in the maritime domain since 2004: operations, safety, and search and rescue. He applies this focus to astronautics, identifying parallels, differences, and developing innovative concepts to advance spaceflight safety and standards.

Dale Stephens

Professor Dale Stephens is a Professor of Law at Adelaide University Law School.  He was admitted to practice in 1989 and is a former Permanent Naval Legal Officer. He has occupied numerous senior positions within the Australian Defence Force, including Director of Operations and International Law, J06 HQJOC, Director of the Military Law Training Centre, Fleet Legal Officer and Director of Navy Legal Services. His operational deployments include multiple tours of East Timor and Iraq. He has been awarded the Conspicuous Service Medal (CSM), the (US) Bronze Star and the (US) Meritorious Service Medal. He attained the rank of Captain in the Royal Australian Navy before transferring to the Reserve in 2013. Professor Stephens holds both a Masters degree (LL.M) and Doctorate (SJD) from Harvard Law School. He is Director of the Adelaide University Research Unit on Military Law and Ethics (RUMLAE).  He is a participating member of the San Remo Manual on the Law of Naval Warfare update project. He was an Editor and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Woomera Manual on the International Law of Military Space Activities and Operations (OUP, 2024). He wa Chair of the South Australian Red Cross IHL Advisory Committee from 2012 - 2024. In 2021 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by the Australian Red Cross. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law.