Part of my work as a private Law of War compliance attorney involves looking ahead, thinking through legal frameworks before the need becomes urgent.
One area I’ll be working on is planetary protection: how law might evolve if we discover microbial life on Mars, Europa, Enceladus, or elsewhere.
We already have the Outer Space Treaty, but gaps remain. If life is discovered, we’ll face questions like:
👉 How should we safeguard it from contamination?
👉 Who decides what activities are permissible in those environments?
👉 Can lessons from centuries of conflict and the Law of War help us avoid repeating Earth’s mistakes in new domains?
The faceless astronaut on my office wall reminds me that law isn’t only about managing present conflicts. It’s also about preventing future ones.
🚀 The sooner we start asking these questions, the better prepared we’ll be.
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