Who is The Space Law Explorer?

My Journey into Space Law

A bit about me

Welcome to our cosmic adventure! I’m Kirsty and I’m the General Counsel (basically the chief in-house lawyer) of a UK-headquartered software company.

Before this, I spent most of my career working as a lawyer within the leveraged finance, private equity and private debt spaces. For years I’ve been helping companies of all sizes navigate the legal side of things.

My LinkedIn

The most fun bits of my job?

Creativity and collaboration.

Often I’m working with others to solve a complex problem whilst staying calm, navigating lots of different hurdles (legal, commercial, moral, human) and doing so in collaboration with those who have totally different perspectives, approaches, interests and agendas.

A key part of my role is horizon-scanning for potential issues that might crop up. I’ll evaluate these in a measured way and work with others in the business to scenario-test the risk and, where appropriate, mitigate it – in a way that doesn’t overburden the business’ day-to-day operations.

A person in a spacesuit hitchhiking with a Mars sign, on a deserted road.
Dramatic view of a space shuttle launching, surrounded by smoke and fire.

How did I decide to get involved in space law?

After 10 years of working as a lawyer, I took some time to reflect. I gave thought to what I enjoyed about my current situation, what I was missing and what I might find fun and exciting.

My role as a General Counsel is by nature quite generalist so I wanted to challenge myself by focusing on something more specialist. I also wanted to focus on an area where all of the answers weren’t already figured out. And I’d been part of a space law moot court team many years ago at university and the experience was really fun.

Space law ticked all of the boxes.

Why I’m fascinated by the space sector

Here are just a few of the (interconnected) reasons that I nd this sector so exciting and why I wanted to learn more about it and the laws that govern it.

Strategic national importance

Innovative new actors

Rapidly evolving sector

No set legal answers

Theoretical issues becoming live

Humans and psychology

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