Dr Cassandra Steer

She has a focus on Mission Specialists, and has published widely on space governance, space law and space security, including space situational awareness and the application of the law of armed conflict and use of force in outer space.

Dr Steer has consulted to the Australian, Canadian and U.S Departments of Defence, the Australian Space Agency and DFAT on these issues. She has taught space law and space security at the ANU College of Law, the National Security College and the Australian War College.

Dr Steer is multilingual, and her background in international law, international criminal law and space law has led her to live and work in five countries across four continents. She is a member of the Australian Space Agency’s Technical Advisory Group for Space Situational Awareness, an Associate Expert on the Woomera Manual on the International Law of Military Space Operations, a member of the Space Traffic Management Committee of the International Academy of Astronautics, and a member of the International Institute of Space Law.

Dr Steer has significant media experience, speaking often on radio and for print media. She has internationally recognised expertise in space law, space security and space governance, and has spoken at high level international events, including for the UN, on these issues. She is the founding Chair of the Australian Centre for Space Governance, and has a particular interest in preventing an arms race in outer space, intergenerational sustainability of the space environment, and issues of diversity in the space sector.

She can comment as a space law expert or as Deputy Director of ANU InSpace on most issues within the space sector, including Australia’s space industry, the geopolitics of space, and any newsworthy events in space technologies.