Q&A with Space Lawyer, Alexandra (Sasha) Field
When you think of space law, you might picture something straight out of a sci-fi movie— legal debates over asteroid mining rights, treaties governing planetary settlements, or contracts for trade between solar systems. While the reality isn’t quite the Galactic Republic yet, it’s just as fascinating. Space law sits at the intersection of cutting-edge technology, international politics, and business innovation, shaping how humans explore, operate, and even do business beyond Earth’s atmosphere. In this Q&A, we sit down with a space lawyer to take a peek at what it’s really like to practice in this emerging field, the challenges companies face in navigating a legal landscape with more unknowns than precedents, and the surprising ways space law impacts everyday life here on Earth.
1. Space is really ‘out there’ as an area to practice in, is it like being in a science fiction movie?
Absolutely. There have been days where I sit in meetings and want to pinch myself. Maybe it is a discussion of ion-thruster versus chemical or nuclear propulsion options. Long conversations happen about how to refuel a spaceship or tow away a non-functional satellite. What does it take for equipment to withstand the intense destructive power of lunar regolith? And there is absolutely nothing that compares to being at a launch in person and watching as a program that you have worked on has one chance to make it through explosive power, multiple G-forces, incredible speed, and temperature extremes.
2. What does it mean that your practice focuses on space law?
There are many ways to consider practice in this area. For me, it means helping clients navigate an industry that has more legal and regulatory complications than most other industries yet almost no precedential history to provide direction. Space is not governed by the laws of any one jurisdiction, but companies are. Businesses that interact with the space ecosystem have to comply with international treaties, national laws, and multi-national corporate and commercial laws. A lawyer in this field has to be able to handle often contradictory policies or laws that were made for situations that differ in key ways from what a company might encounter for a product or service that is provided in space or bought from a vendor who produces in space. It can be very hard for lawyers, and their clients, to comfortably handle risk assessments, given how much grey area there is with respect to legal work in the space ecosystem.
For instance, in the US, liability for launching into space is a unique and multi-layered structure that flows out to the entire industry ecosystem. Meanwhile, it can be difficult for a provider or vendor to balance this risk with insurance as the insurance world is often stumped by how or whether to provide coverage for the new products or services that are put in front of them. And given the time frames and high costs of bringing new products to market, putting that kind of open risk dynamic in front of funding sources is often a non-starter. So I spend a lot of time working to help clients ensure that they are in the best overall position to get to profitability and to be able to be self-sustaining.
3. What are some common misconceptions people have about the space industry?
Most people think immediately of rockets, satellites, and going to Mars and assume it is a niche practice focused mostly on scientific research, government projects, and a very few big satellite operators. But the space economy is so much bigger than that. Forecasts for the next decade range from $1.5 - $2.5 trillion globally. There are companies that actually provide service in space, the companies that provide the logistics for those companies around getting to space and providing service back to earth, and the extended ecosystem of companies (and governments) that rely on services or products from the providers in space. And that is before you get to figuring out how to mine asteroids or set up a lunar base.
Governments and the private sector all struggle with issues around national security, the preservation of the space and Earth environment, liability for damages caused by space objects, the risks and benefits of international cooperation, as well as the expansion of the human race beyond our atmosphere. Meanwhile space-enabled technologies play critical roles in everything from telecommunications, defense, and weather forecasts to farming, manufacturing, and education. Few people realize how many times each day they are interacting with space-enabled products for daily tasks such as commuting, buying lunch, or paying at the gas pump. For such a grand sounding industry, it is surprisingly invisible in most of its actual impact.
4. You spent many years as in-house counsel. How has that experience contributed to the way you handle matters as outside counsel?
Over the course of my career, I’ve worked in big companies, small companies, and startups, as well as the domestic and international sides of the government. I have been in their shoes and understand where the pressures are coming from as well as where the land mines are likely to be. This is invaluable in knowing what to look for or what questions to ask in order to understand what a client really needs. Risk appetite, corporate and technological stage of development, and positioning with respect to broader industry players impact how I prioritize my advice. It would be great to be able to pull templates for the sales and vendor contracts or for the policies that a company needs, but when the company is building something that is pushing the envelope as much as my clients do, templates often don’t exist and sometimes actively harm a company by tying them up in ways they can’t afford or putting them at too much legal risk to attract the financing they need. So the ability to really understand the business and provide legal support that is truly targeted to them allows me to uniquely tailor my support of each client.
5. What inspired you to pursue a career the space industry, and how did you get started in this field?
Honestly, the real question should be whether there was any way that I wouldn’t spend my professional life in the space industry? I tell people that I have been a space fan since before I could walk. What toddler didn’t sit with their mother and watch Star Trek (the original series) on the TV? And while shows like Star Trek and the sci fi and fantasy books I gobbled up as a kid were what made my imagination soar, I grew up in DC and practically lived at the Smithsonian museums (again, thanks to my mother). The National Air and Space Museum was a thing of beauty that let me see how much of those stories was already real or could become real in the future.
By my undergraduate years, studying astrophysics at the Harvard/Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, I was given amazing opportunities to learn about the nascent space industry while experiencing the leap in access to data that a space-based platform could offer. There was so much new information being downloaded from satellites, that even undergraduates got the chance to work with data and images from galaxies that no human had ever seen before.
With that as a background, I knew that what I wanted was a career path that allowed me to be a part of making the possible part of the real. I was able to attend one of the few law schools at the time that actually offered a space law seminar as well as multiple classes around emerging technology areas like software, the internet, and wireless telecommunications. And sure enough, through the years and jobs and experiences, I have been lucky enough to have a front row seat for some of the most amazing developments both in space and on Earth.
Sasha Field is a Partner in the firm’s Corporate and Communications, Media & Entertainment practice groups. Ms. Field specializes in working with companies in the aerospace and emerging technologies industries to provide support on corporate, commercial contract, and regulatory issues. Her extensive complex transactional and regulatory experience spans both domestic and international arenas.
