As 2021 draws to a close we would like to wish you a safe and peaceful Christmas. 2021 has been a year of Inspiration (see below) and Endeavour for space lawyers. Never before have we encountered so many practical questions in the daily news. Such conundrums included:
Is Jeff Bezos really an “astronaut”? (spoiler alert, no, but he did design a nice badge to wear instead)
Did Captain Kirk actually make it to “space”? (and why did JB decide he needed to nearly drown the eminent Captain in champagne?)
Did you feel inspired by Inspiration4 (and their cold pizza catering)?
How many satellites is too many? And how small may be too small?
Is the New Shepard still new?
Who will be the oldest astronaut (not) to make it to space?
When will ASAT “tests” stop being tests?
What the hell is a FOB and why do we suddenly need to know about it?
Will we still be able to see stars in the sky or will we marvel at the thousands of tiny satellites twinkling above us?
Will Australia ever launch its own satellite into space? (trick question posed at the House of Representatives hearing into the Space Industry)
Further, we can see some light on a very distant (Martian) horizon that the UN will be making some progress on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.
And best of all SLC- ANZ earned its own abbreviation in the The Now Frontier: Developing Australia's Space Report Industry Report, which was tabled before Parliament on 2 December 2021.
The Board looks forward to pursuing further adventures with you in 2022, including a conference (more to follow) and member activities. As always we very much welcome member input on what you would like to see next in the schedule of activities.
We leave you with this final question:
Has anyone issued a conjunction warning for the ISS and a certain sleigh driven by a man in a red suit?
With best wishes from the SLC-ANZ Board.