The Vice-Presidents are Officers posted to the Board of the International Institute of Space Law.

Dr. Diane Howard

Vice-President

Dr. Diane Howard is Director for Commercial Space Policy at the White House National Space Council. In addition, Diane is a non-resident scholar at UT Austin’s Strauss Center for International and Security Studies and an adjunct professor in its School of Law. Diane first became involved in space endeavors in 2004, on both the domestic and international levels. She was a citizen advocate for the passing of the Commercial Space Law Amendments Act of 2004, a critical piece of U.S. legislation that made possible the development of innovative technologies and a burgeoning commercial space transportation industry and participated in United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space capacity building initiatives in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Kiev, Ukraine. After working as a staff attorney in the Florida Appellate courts for some years, she took the decision to specialize in space law and attended McGill University’s Institute of Air and Space Law. Her LLM thesis centered upon private space law issues and her doctoral work focused upon effective spaceport regulation.

Setsuko Aoki

Director

Career: present position: Professor, Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University, Japan (since April 2004); Previous careers include Associate Professor, School of Social Science, National Defense Academy of Japan (1994-1999) and Associate Professor, Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University, Japan (1999-2004).

Education and Degree: Doctor of Civil Law (D.C.L.), Institute of Air and Space Law, Faculty of Law, McGill University, Canada (June, 1993); LL.M., Graduate School of Law, Keio University, Japan (March, 1985); B.C.L., Faculty of Law, Keio University, Japan (March, 1983)

Main present positions in the Japanese Government relevant to space law: a member of Space Policy Committee (Cabinet Office), a member of Telecommunications Council of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC); and a legal advisor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Legal Subcommittee of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) since 2002.

Main Articles written in English after 2009. “The Function of Soft Law in the Development of International Space Law”, in Irmgard Marboe ed., Soft Law in Outer Space, Böhlau (2012), pp. 57-85; “In Search of the Current Legal Status of the Registration of Space Objects”, Proceedings of the International Institute of Space Law 2010 (2011), pp. 245-261;“Japanese Law and Regulations Concerning Remote Sensing Activities”, 36 Journal of Space Law (2010), pp.335-364; “The “Necessary Legal Conditions to Promote Space Commerce in Asia”, Korean Journal of Air and Space Law, Special Issue (2010), pp.127-150; “The First Basic Space Plan of Japan: What Will Be Changed?”, Proceedings of the International Space Law 2009 (2010), pp.413-425; “Space Arms Control: Challenges and Alternatives”, 52 Japanese Yearbook of International Law (2009), 191-230; “Current Status and Recent Developments in Japan’s National Space Law and its Relevance to Pacific Rim Space Law and Activities” 35 Journal of Space Law, (2009)pp.363-438; “Space Traffic Management’ for the Prevention of Weaponization in Outer Space” Proceedings of the International Institute of Space Law 2008 (2009) pp.154-170.