A year orbiting the sun: SPARC activities and milestones from September 2024 to August 2025
Building on the steps taken in recent years, the last year was full of important milestones: (i) at the institutional and cooperation level; (ii) the engagement and participation of several SPARC members in events and their contributions to Space Law, and; (iii) the growth of SPARC in terms of membership, which now has three new members.
On point (i) in September 2024, NOVA School of Law (and SPARC) signed a cooperation protocol with the Portuguese Air Force / Força Aérea Portuguesa (and the National Aeronautical Authority / Autoridade Aeronáutica Nacional – AAN). Suchcooperation covers joint initiatives and activities in space-related research, from doctrinal, legal, and strategic perspectives, as well as the development of legislation and regulation concerning the Portuguese Air Force and AAN’s competences and responsibilities in the space domain, as well as the promotion and organization of conferences, courses, and other academic or operational events on topics related to Space Law. Since then, SPARC has been involved in several activities – including the I Postgraduate Course on “Space in Defense and National Security” in October 2024, with the II edition already scheduled for October 2025 – while also providing legal advice on different matters aimed at integrating space as the new operational domain of the Portuguese Air Force. Besides this, SPARC continues to work within the framework of the cooperation protocol signed with National Communications Authority / Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações – ANACOM (and Space Authority) in September 2022 and has also stepped in to provide interinstitutional contact and support between ANACOM and the Portuguese Air Force. Other events with ANACOM and the Portuguese Air Force are planned for the 2025/2026 academic year.
Regarding point (ii) there are two major events worth mentioning. In October 2024, at the International Astronautical Congress 2024 (IAC2024), organized by the International Astronautical Federation, SPARC was represented by its members Paula de Castro Silveira, Marie-Louise Hohenbühel, and João Falcão Serra, who attended the five-day event in Milan. The following papers were submitted and discussed: (1) “Freedom of Access to All Areas of Celestial Bodies vis a vis Space Resource Activities: An Examination of Possible Conflicts in International Law,” written and presented by João Marques de Azevedo and Marie-Louise Hohenbühel; (2) “Navigating the legal landscape: Balancing Public and Private International Law in Space Resource Appropriation,” written and presented by João Marques de Azevedo and LucillienDenoyelle (Space Generation Advisory Council – SGAC); and (3) “Portugal and space: the new regulation on space activity and its challenges” and “Zero Debris Charter: is it soft law enough for s pace sustainability”, both written and presented by Paula de Castro Silveira. In May 2025, at the first event ever held by the SGAC in Portugal, of which SPARC was an official partner since the very beginning, held in Coimbra, João Nuno Frazão and João Marques de Azevedo, as SPARC coordinators, were speakers at the thematic workshop dedicated to Space Law and Policy. João Nuno Frazão also took part as a mentor in the multi-disciplinary mini-mock competition about space.
Alongside other events (conferences, courses, lectures, etc.), posted on SPARC’s social media, another important part of its activity and commitment to its mission has been the focus on the scientific output of several of its members, highlighted in both 2024 and 2025, as follows:
1. João Marques de Azevedo, “Space Resource Activities and the New Space Age: Current International Legal Framework and Preparing for the Future” in The New Space Age: Legal and Policy Perspectives, Budapest, Hungary, Ludovika University Press, 2024, pp. 319-352;
2. Francisco Pereira Coutinho and João Nuno Frazão, “Portugal and the Militarization of Outer Space” in Law of Armed Conflict Manuals – A Portuguese Perspective, Lisboa, Almedina, 2025, pp. 421-433;
3. Francisco Pereira Coutinho and João Nuno Frazão, “Portugal e a militarização do espaço exterior”, in Brasil e sua inserção futura na ordem multipolar (Org. Antonio dos Santos, Lídia Maria Ribas e Guilherme Sandoval Góes), Rio de Janeiro, 2025, pp. 123-139;
4. João Nuno Frazão, “O espaço, a defesa nacional e a Força Aérea Portuguesa: breve reflexão política, estratégica e jurídico-normativa” (Space, national defense and thePortuguese Air Force: a few political, strategic and legal considerations) in Mais Alto, Revista da Força Aérea Portuguesa, ano LXV, edição n.º 473, fevereiro 2025, pp. 4-11.
Further publications (in journals, handbooks, etc.) are expected in 2025 and 2026.
Lastly, as for point (iii) SPARC welcomes three new members as of April 2025: Bárbara Manuel Sacramento, Inês Afonso Mousinho, and Sheila Torquato Humphreys. Each one of them, on an academic, professional, and personal level, fits the desired profile and will contribute (as they already do) to SPARC’s mission. Welcome and ad astra!
Stay tuned for the future!
Obrigado