About us
Our Objective
The space industry is growing rapidly with commercial actors now playing a dominant part in the development of new activities such as new satellite services, the construction of commercial space stations, the return to the Moon and manufacturing and resource exploitation in space. At the same time, space is playing an increasingly important role in national military capabilities and geopolitical ambitions.
As launch options remain a bottleneck for space activities, and the increasing congestion of the low Earth orbits increases the risk for service interruptions, commercial disputes are likely to increase in the space sector. In addition, the high regulation of space activities exposes foreign investments in the space sector to political risk, thereby increasing the likelihood of investment disputes. Finally, State-to-State disputes could arise out of the competition for orbital and space resources and the remaining gaps in the international legal framework.
The Space Arbitration Association has the objective to create room for exchange between the international arbitration and space communities to address the best ways of avoiding and solving these disputes. To that aim, it offers a list of articles and public documents on the topic of dispute resolution and space, organizes events on topics related to space arbitration, and addresses current issues on its blog.
The Space Arbitration Association also offers training on international arbitration to legal teams of companies active in the space sector who are seeking to increase their familiarity with arbitration proceedings.
The Team
Laura Yvonne Zielinski. Laura is the founder and president of the Space Arbitration Association. She has over ten years of experience representing States and multinational companies in commercial and investor-State arbitration proceedings and in advising on non-contentious public international law matters, most recently as Senior Counsel at Holland & Knight in Mexico City. She studied at Sciences Po in Paris, Columbia Law School in New York (Parker Scholar, Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar), completed the Strategic Space Law Course at McGill University and is admitted to practice in Paris, New York and Mexico. She is Vice-Chair of the Space Law Committee of the International Bar Association and a member of the International Institute of Space Law. She is currently completing her doctoral thesis on international investment protection in the space sector at the University of Cologne, Germany.
Dr. Jan Frohloff. Jan is the Editor-in-Chief of the Space Arbitration Blog. He is a partner at the dispute resolution boutique SRP in Munich, Germany. His primary practice focuses on international arbitrations in space and satellite disputes. Jan regularly publishes, speaks and teaches on the topics of international arbitration and space disputes. His article “Arbitration in Space Disputes” from 2019 spent eight months in Arbitration International’s top five list of most read articles, two of which as the number one most read article.
Dr. Julian Scheu. Julian is Junior Professor of Public Law, International Law, and International Investment Law at the University of Cologne. He manages the International Investment Law Centre Cologne (IILCC) and focuses on international economic law, European law, international dispute settlement, and comparative administrative law. One of his research projects concerns the application of investment treaties in outer space. He is acting as an advisor to the Space Arbitration Association.
Santiago M. Zalazar. Santiago is an attorney at Covington & Burling LLP, where he focuses on international disputes. He represents sovereigns and multinational companies in investor‑State and commercial matters, included related multi‑jurisdictional litigation in U.S. courts. Santiago has advised on anti‑corruption and sanctions compliance, national‑security‑related regulations, and satellite spectrum issues before the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC). His practice is complemented by an active pro bono docket and prior policy experience at the Organization of American States (OAS), the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and the Embassy of Argentina in Washington, where he served as a liaison to the U.S. Congress for almost six years. Santiago co‑leads Covington’s space initiative.
Riccardo Loschi. Riccardo Loschi is a Senior Associate at LALIVE, where he represents clients in commercial and investment arbitration, set-aside, and enforcement proceedings. He also advises on foreign investment, regulatory, and national security matters. Riccardo lectures on Space Law at the World Trade Institute (as of June 2025) and has participated in public consultations on the draft EU and Swiss space laws. Before joining the Space Arbitration Association, he was a member of the European Centre for Space Law, the managing editor of Columbia FDI Perspectives, and a research assistant at the Columbia Center for International Arbitration. Riccardo holds a law degree from Bocconi Law School and an LL.M. from Columbia Law School.
Vivasvat (Viva) Dadwal. Viva is an Associate in the New York City office of King & Spalding LLP. Her practice involves commercial and investment treaty arbitrations, as well as enforcement proceedings before U.S. courts. Viva studied law at McGill University and at the National University of Singapore, graduating with joint Bachelors of Common and Civil Law. Prior to law school, Viva worked for the Government of Canada, assisting with international trade and investment treaty negotiations. Viva co-leads the Research Project on Space-Related Disputes at McGill University’s Institute of Air & Space Law.
Tobias Meier. Tobias is an associate at Borris Hennecke Kneisel in Cologne, Germany, where he focuses on complex commercial disputes before State courts and arbitral tribunals. He is a doctoral candidate at the University of Cologne. His dissertation, written under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Stephan Hobe, addresses the role of international arbitration in resolving future space-related disputes.
Vincent Carriou. Vincent is dual-qualified in France and England and Wales. He is a Senior Associate at Gide, specializing in international arbitration. Vincent regularly acts as counsel and secretary to arbitral tribunals in arbitration proceedings conducted under the auspices of the main arbitration institutions. His experience spans commercial disputes arising out of a variety of industries, including the space industry. Vincent has spent several months in secondment with the legal team at ArianeGroup working on an array of space-related contracts.
Roman Saavedra. Roman is a Product Designer/Front-End Developer based in Mexico City. He is responsible for the product design of the Space Arbitration Association. He co-founded the Space Arbitration Association in 2021.
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