First Annual Space Piracy Conference Scheduled for February 2025

First Annual Space Piracy Conference Scheduled for February 2025
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 30, 2024

The Center for the Study of Space Crime, Policy, and Governance (CSCPG) announced it will present the first annual Space Piracy Conference on February 11 and 12, 2025. This by-invitation-only symposium will take place in Annapolis, Maryland. The conference will gather leading policy thinkers, financiers, executives, and entrepreneurs to discuss the risks of piracy in space and potential solutions to this economic and legal challenge.

While piracy and crime in space are currently theoretical, experts agree that the rapid commercial growth of the space sector will inevitably lead to criminal activity. Current treaties, legal frameworks, law enforcement, and military capabilities are not equipped to address these emerging threats.

"Now is the time to start thinking and talking about mitigating the threat of piracy in space," said Marc Feldman, Executive Director of CSCPG. "As we like to say, and please forgive me, Leon Trotsky, but you may not be interested in space piracy, but space pirates are interested in you...." Feldman, a veteran of the space venture sector, is co-author, with Hugh Taylor, of the book *Space Piracy: Preparing for a Criminal Crisis in Orbit*, set for publication by John Wiley and Sons in January 2025.

The conference will include multi-threaded dialogues exploring the risks of crime and piracy in space from finance, commercial insurance and risk management, space law, space policy, intelligence, international relations, and the military perspectives. Attendees will hear from a select group of experts and learn how space piracy and crime will affect the space industry and national security, as well as how to protect against these risks.

"Any serious analysis and planning process for the future of space commerce, as well as space aspects of national security, needs to consider the threat of piracy," explained Dr. Gordon Roesler, a space system developer and retired US Navy Captain who is an advisor to the conference. "Admiral Mahan taught us that wherever there are lines of commerce, they must be defended. The US military and intelligence communities should perhaps take a close look at the possibility for criminal activity using advanced space capabilities. The conference provides a unique opportunity for interested parties to come together and start discussing this problem."

Attendance is limited to 200, and the event is set to take place at the U.S. Naval Institute's Jack C. Taylor Conference Center on the US Naval Academy campus in Annapolis, Maryland, a fitting venue given the Navy's long history of combating piracy at sea.

More information about participation will be available in the coming months.