Nunn School Launches New Space Policy Center

The space around Earth is central to life on the surface, encompassing myriad economic, technological, political, and even military considerations that affect the lives of millions. A new center devoted to space policy in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs seeks to support the School’s increasingly robust research and teaching in the area. 

"Space is becoming an increasingly important domain for our economy and our national security in the United States, as well as worldwide,” said Mariel Borowitz, associate professor in the Nunn School and director of the new Center for Space Policy and International Relations, which holds its first event next week in Washington. “This center can be a hub that brings researchers together and makes progress on these key research issues.” 

The Center, which counts six Nunn School researchers among its initial faculty, seeks to advance research in space governance, space security, and the development of space programs internationally, as well as in areas related to international cooperation and diplomacy. 

Already, Nunn School researchers are tackling a variety of interdisciplinary space policy projects, including work on the value of satellite data to improving life on Earth, papers assessing space program developments in China and the Middle East, the international political dimensions of developing a global navigation system for the Moon, creating fair rules around access to resources in space, and understanding just what conflict in space might look like. 

Their work reaches across the Georgia Tech campus. For instance, the School partners with four other schools across three colleges to offer a graduate certificate in Astrobiology, and with the College of Engineering, the College of Sciences, and the Scheller College of Business on a graduate certificate in Space Entrepreneurship. 

The new Center will also complement the work of Georgia Tech’s Space Research Initiative, announced last year and slated to transition into an Interdisciplinary Research Institute this year, according to Adam N. Stulberg, Sam Nunn School Chair and Professor in the Nunn School. 

“With researchers pursuing answers to difficult space policy, security, and governance questions from viewpoints and backgrounds as varied as aeronautics, astrophysics, emerging technologies, and political science, we’re embodying the interdisciplinary spirit that will help drive new discoveries that could make humanity’s future in space, and here on Earth, more productive and peaceful,” Stulberg said. 

Lawrence Rubin, a Nunn School associate professor affiliated with the new Center, said Georgia Tech and the Nunn School are in a unique position to surge forward as a widely recognized center for space policy research. 

“Few universities can match Georgia Tech’s leadership in both scientific research and space policy. That’s the distinction we are building on,” said Rubin, a Middle East expert with U.S. Defense Department experience who has studied the rise of regional space programs in that part of the world. 

Another affiliated researcher, Assistant Professor R. Lincoln Hines, said Georgia Tech is already a great place to study space policy, and the Center will only make it better. 

Hines, who studies China’s space program, noted that students have access to training in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering and opportunities to engage in applied research at the Georgia Tech Research Institute. They can also learn from respected researchers who also have practical experience in the field. 

For instance, Borowitz is widely cited in the media on space policy issues, has testified before Congress, and is currently tasked part-time to the U.S. Office of Space Commerce, where she is working on a project to move space debris tracking to a civilian agency from the Department of Defense. Another Center affiliate, postdoctoral researcher Thomas González Roberts, will soon start an appointment at the International Telecommunications Union as an academic in residence studying how satellite operators follow international rules. 

“Compared to other universities, we already have one of the largest concentrations of scholars on space policy and security,” Roberts said. “Our research footprint and real-world impact is expanding, and our interdisciplinary program has extraordinary competitive advantages for students seeking a career in this field.” 

The Nunn School and the Center will officially launch programming for the Center on March 11 with events in Washington, including a discussion on the future of space policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a dinner discussing the challenges of space traffic management, and an event for Georgia Tech alumni in Washington. 

For more information on the Center, visit its website.