This book is the result of a cooperative process that started within the Space Mission Planning Advisory Group (smpag) under the auspices of the United Nations. Many thanks are due to the longstanding smpag Chairman Gerhard Drolshagen (European Space Agency) and the Secretary Romana Kofler (unoosa) as well as the coordinators of the smpag Ad-hoc Working Group on Legal Issues, Line Drube (then dlr, now Danish Technical University) and Alissa Haddaji (Harvard University). They and many other members of smpag and of the Ad-hoc Working Group generously agreed to contribute to the present volume and delve in more detail into the issues raised in the discussions and in the 2020 Report. I am also deeply grateful to the additional authors who accepted the invitation and dedicated a lot of time outside their demanding professional duties to do in-depth research and put forward important additional considerations on legal aspects of planetary defence. All the authors successfully endeavoured to reach the high academic level required for a book published in the prestigious series ‘Studies in Space Law’ edited by Frans von der Dunk for which the publisher Brill/Nijhoff and its dedicated staff deserve our sincere gratitude.
At the University of Vienna, Cordula Steinkogler provided invaluable input and support in the publication process as assistant editor. She diligently accompanied the dialogue with authors to ensure consistency in structure and contents and to avert potential contradictions and overlaps. Many thanks also go to the research assistants Felicia Schartner and Stephanie Stipsits for their dedication in ensuring complete referencing as well as uniform spelling and writing style. The activities in the area of space law at the University of Vienna have been generously supported by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology as well as the Austrian Research Promotion Agency, which enabled the development of expertise and the building up of a team of academics and students to fulfil the tasks of the National Point of Contact for Space Law (npoc Space Law) in Austria for the European Centre for Space Law (ecsl). This book is one of the results of the long-term engagement in the area of space law at the University of Vienna and is dedicated to the further development of international coordination and cooperation in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space for the benefit of humankind.
Irmgard Marboe (Editor)