By Adrian Flynn
Interdisciplinary Dialogue (and Debate!) Flourishes at Karman-Oxford Week 2024
That’s a wrap on Karman-Oxford Week 2024! In the Oxford Spirit, the fourth iteration of the Smart Space MBA Elective brought together esteemed members of the Karman Community and driven Oxford MBA students on the cusp of graduating. This meeting of the minds at the University of Oxford once again paved the way for inspiration and newfound understandings of the future of space governance and commerce.
As part of The Karman Project’s ongoing commitment to engaging its community of Karman Fellows and Pioneers (top shortlisted candidates) for dialogue and debate, ten members of our Karman Community were selected to participate as official auditors of the Smart Space MBA Elective. This delegation was announced in early July, and represented a truly international and interdisciplinary collection of space professionals - with 11 nationalities (including dual nationalities) present. Our Karman delegates included heads of national space agencies, investors, policy experts, and professionals working at the intersection of industries leveraging space including climate, medicine, and the arts.
The course kicked off with a lecture from Professor Marc Ventresca, Convener of the Oxford Space Initiative, who provided an excellent overview of the space domain and drew on case studies in innovative space initiatives to illustrate the perpetually dynamic nature of the sector. Professor Ventresca emphasized that while the everyday applications of space are further shaping up to be pervasive, ubiquitous, and fundamental, the tempos and rhythms people take for granted in Earth-based ventures may develop quite differently in the space economy. An open forum for student questions also sparked an ongoing discussion on a variety of pressing issues in space sustainability and peacebuilding.
Tuesday featured an in-depth class session regarding the geopolitics of space facilitated by Professor Lucas Kello, which also highlighted the relationship between politics and technology throughout history. The session ended with a workshop on pathways to addressing common challenges such as mitigating orbital debris, addressing the proliferation of anti-satellite testing, and addressing GPS disruption and communications spoofing, through both domestic and multilateral initiatives across multiple governance paradigms.
As this course was held at the Oxford Saïd Business School, a deep dive into the business and economic aspects of space was imperative. Wednesday and Thursday featured lectures from faculty, Oxford Space Initiative Fellows, and Karman Delegation members alike on such varied topics as the dominant ecosystems of space commerce, numerous nascent and emerging clusters of interest, the prevailing and dynamic trends that underpin business in space, as well as practical investor insights on how novel space ventures attract funding. To these topics, Wednesday’s session featured a panel of Karman Delegation members Agnieszka Lukaszczyk, Michal Brichta, Fani Kallianou de Jong, and Mary Murphy, moderated by Managing Director Hannah Ashford. Thursday also featured two lectures from Karman members Michal Brichta and Davis Cook on the role of emerging space countries in governance and the African space ecosystem, respectively.
The course wrapped on Friday with a concluding overview of the dynamics between public and private space initiatives, an indispensable relationship to understand in the contemporary space environment. Furthermore, the class steeped itself in discussions surrounding the prevailing and emerging socioeconomic trends characterizing space, as well as what one in the space sector should consider in the realm of ethics. Lively and constructive class-wide debates emerged throughout the week on such pressing topics as sovereign access to space and satellite data, the ability of the private sector to sustainably expand space capabilities, and the long-term economic viability of investment in space ventures.
Add all of this time in the classroom to the countless personal exchanges, ongoing substantive discussions, and newfound collaborations between the OxSi team, Saïd MBA students, and the Karman Delegation out and about in Oxford, and you get the signature Karman multiplier effect! Highlights include a classic Oxford Punting canal excursion and a Space Community Gala Dinner at the St. Hilda's College Riverside Pavilion, with perhaps one or two trips to King’s Arms squeezed in here and there for good measure… We’re so proud of this partnership and immeasurably grateful to the amazing people at the Oxford Space Initiative and the Saïd Business School for working with us to once again bring such an extraordinary and valuable program to life. A special thanks once again to our Karman Delegation for the energy, expertise, and joyful spirit that you brought to the program.
We’re so excited to extend this partnership into its 5th year in 2025!
Annexure: The Karman Project’s 2024 Oxford Delegation
1. Michal Brichta, Co-founder at the Slovak Space Office (Slovakia)
2. Agnieszka Lukaszczyk, Senior Director of European Affairs at Planet Labs (Poland/USA)
3. Olayinka Fagbemiro, Chief Scientific Officer at the Nigerian Space Agency (Nigeria)
4. Melania Guerra, Consultant in Climate & Ocean Science Diplomacy (Costa Rica)
5. Fani Kallianou de Jong, Principal Manager at European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (Greece)
6. Raffaele Mauro, Co-founder and General Partner at PrimoSpace Ventures (Italy)
7. Mary Murphy, Director of Mission Management at Voyager Space Exploration Systems (USA)
8. Arno Geens, Founder of Astronautical Art Initiative (Belgium)
9. Dr. Shawna Pandya, Physician and Scientist-Astronaut Candidate at the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (Canada)
10. Kevin Ramirez, Space/Earth Observation Manager at Climate-KIC (Colombia)
