Ayomide Jide-Omole sees growth for space law industry

A specialist in space law and policy, and a Fellow at the School of Law at Loyola University Chicago, Jide-Omole started her career as the Program Director of the Caribbean Space Society and is now at the forefront of growth in the space law industry.

According to Jide-Omole, many of the activities conducted by the commercial space industry are new to everyone, making authorisation, supervision, and regulation difficult. Hence, why there is a lot of need for growth within the sector. Space lawyers will be the architects of the rules that govern our activities in space, ensuring that our reach does not exceed our grasp and that the space environment remains a domain of peace, cooperation, and innovation. As humanity looks to the stars, it is essential that we recognize the need for lawyers who will help navigate the legal challenges that space presents, ensuring that space remains open, fair, peaceful, stable and beneficial to all.

With experience in multilevel governance, having worked on space governance issues at the global level, Jide-Omole is contributing immensely to the development of international space law with a direct impact on the global economy. She has spoken extensively at high-stake events such as at the Science Summit of the United Nations General Assembly’s 78th Session.

Jide-Omole is also the Executive Director of ‘More to Space than Air’ a non-profit organization that uses public education, participation, and dialogue to foster the future of space activity. She also brings together individuals who are deeply committed to assuring that human exploration of space benefits all humans, whether they remain here on our planet or travel beyond our Earth.

In a statement made available to reporters, Jide-Omole reiterated that space law is a niche but growing specialty, drawing on practice areas such as manufacturing, telecommunications, government regulation, international trade, environmental law, energy, and more. She also noted that there is a need to develop global space policy particularly while most of humanity is still confronted with challenges of climate change and variability, natural and anthropogenic disasters and environmental degradation, which have negatively impacted agricultural production, economic productivity and socio-economic infrastructures. As an avid user of space resources, Jide-Omole noted the importance of human’s reliance on space resources for daily use.

“I went into space science with a lot of curiosity and anxiety, but I knew that I always wanted to give back, and the way I can give back is to help evolve and develop the laws the way it needs to be. The world will need clearer laws to govern the commercial use of space and more specialized attorneys to understand and interpret those laws, “Jide-Omole said.

Jide-Omole is actively contributing to increasing support for space exploration and development amongst members of the international community and throughout broad sectors of civil society who may not be as familiar with how the space sector improves the quality of our lives, or have been reluctant to appreciate its not always readily apparent benefits, particularly in light of balancing considerations for resource allocations.

Her admirable work at the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) in Rome, Italy has lend to more swift and formidable policy support for space development and greater inter-auspices collaboration throughout the United Nations regime and beyond, including in greater multidisciplinary, and public-private partnerships.

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