Legal and policy aspects of space big data: legal implications of the use of large amounts of space data – regulatory solutions and policy recommendations

Stefoudi, D. (2024)

Doctoral Thesis

Space data provide timely and reliable information that enables a wide variety of civil and commercial applications. Thanks to their volume, velocity, variety, and veracity, space big data create the potential for additional benefits from space data.
The benefits of space big data depend on the ways in which data are collected, accessed, used, and disseminated, therefore the laws and data policies that affect them should be studied. This thesis answers the question ‘How could space big data be regulated to address existing legal challenges and enhance their benefits?’. In particular, it identifies the laws and data policies that are relevant to the collection, access, use, and dissemination of space big data, among the legal frameworks that govern activities involving space or data. It also assesses the impact of the relevant laws and data policies, in terms of the limitations they impose on data collection, access, use, and dissemination. From the analysis of the relevant laws and data policies and their impact, the thesis draws the areas where their application encounters difficulties and describes the respective legal challenges. Based on these findings, recommendations are provided for overcoming the legal challenges and enhancing the collection, access, use, and dissemination of data, and by extension, their benefits.

• Space law
• Space policy
• European Union Space Programme
• Space big data
• Space data
• Earth observation
• Cybersecurity
• Privacy
• Export control

• All authors: Stefoudi, D.
• Supervisor: Truxal, S.J.; Custers, B.H.M.
• Co-supervisor: Masson-Zwaan, T.L.
• Committee: Duijvenvoorde, G.P. van; Harrington, A.; Newman, C.J.: Fosch Villaronga, E.
• Qualification: Doctor (dr.)
• Awarding Institution: Institute of Public Law, Faculty of Law, Leiden University
• Date: 2024-05-29
• Title of host publication: Meijers-reeks
• ISBN (print): 9789464734799
• Name: MI-420
• Sponsorship: Netherlands Space Office (NSO); European Space Agency (ESA)