Warm thanks to my energizing co-authors, who have tirelessly joined me on this journey. Thanks also go out to my colleagues at the University of Essex Law School, who have been supportive of my research activities throughout my time there. Equally, I thank my family for keeping me well and truly grounded and able to enjoy the passing seasons while writing this monograph. A particularly heartfelt thanks goes to a person who fits into both the last two categories, my wife Dr. Marina Lostal, whose intellect has always been my guiding North Star.
Matthew Gillett
Foremost thank you to my co-authors, who have shared this exciting journey with me, for their tireless work and belief in us. Warmest thank you to my mentor and supervisor Prof. Stephan Hobe for his support of my research into diverse and enthralling areas of space law, to my colleagues at the Cologne Institute for a wonderful working atmosphere that has helped and entertained during the entirety of this monograph evolution and my European Centre of Space Law Summer Course 2022 co-tutors for many engaging discussions on space law as well as life. A further warm embrace of gratitude to my former mentor Prof. Vasilka Sancin for introducing me to space law by embarking on the 2019 Space Law Moot Court journey with me, my Teammate Iva Ramuš Cvetkovič and our coach Rok Kljajič. A special acknowledgement furthermore to Prof. Em. Christian Brünner and Prof. Em. Sergio Marchisio for their support throughout the Moot Court, and Prof. Wian Erlank for his kind and excellent advice on academic writing and research. A kiss to all my horses, past and present, who have been my joy and teachers, to Tjaša for our many interesting discussions on horseback and off, and finally, the greatest and warmest of thanks to my mother Monika and my grandfather Adam for their unwavering and endless support and love throughout that have made this journey, as well as many others, possible.
Katja Grünfeld
I want to express my gratitude to my distinguished co-authors – to Katja for connecting us and creating an initiative that inspired this work, and to Matthew for his vision of what our initial work could become, as well as then for all his efforts into making that vision possible. It was a privilege and an honor writing this book with you. In addition to that, final edits to the text would be much more difficult and exhausting without Mark Jeršič, who patiently assisted us
I further want to thank my mentor and PhD supervisor Prof. Aleš Završnik, who recognized the importance of examining the issues of space technology from both legal and criminological perspective, for his ongoing support for my research ideas and plans, valuable advice and numerous opportunities to participate in the multidisciplinary academic sphere, which sharpened my thoughts and expanded my horizons. At the same time, I want to thank all of my colleagues at the Institute of Criminology in Ljubljana, for expressing interest in my research, encouraging my projects and creating a working environment that sparks productivity and creativity on every day basis. As a significant part of this book was written during my research stay at the University of Cologne, I want to also thank everyone who made it possible for me to have a productive time there, but especially the director of the Cologne Criminological Institute, Prof. Frank Neubacher, for a warm welcome and continuous exchange of opinions and ideas, and Ms. Sabine Hackspiel for her generous sponsorship of my daad-Stiftung scholarship.
A special acknowledgement goes to my former mentor Prof. Vasilka Sancin, who is, in fact, the primary and the sole reason for the beginning of my journey into the endless challenges of space law. It was also thanks to her, and to Prof. Em. Christian Brünner and Prof. Em. Sergio Marchisio, that I decided to continue that journey.
Lastly, I want to give warmest thanks to those closest to me. To my family, for all their love that surrounds me and guides me in everything I do, and for their endless support and understanding during my studies, including the writing process of this book. Especially to my parents, who both in their own way, have raised me to understand the unparalleled power and importance of thinking and writing. Finally, to all my dear friends and to Kai, for ensuring that my work is (more or less) in balance with life.
Iva Ramuš Cvetkovič