Who writes the rules of the new space economy?
ISA SPACE LAW FORUM · FRANKFURT SCHOOL OF FINANCE & MANAGEMENT · 31 OCTOBER 2026 · 09:00 TO 13:00
Under the patronage of Boris Rhein, Minister-President of the State of Hesse
What the forum is
The rules governing how people work, invest and bear liability in space are being written this decade. They are almost always written away from the public eye.
The ISA Space Law Forum is Part 1 of the International Space Assembly: 09:00 to 13:00, closed and curated. Law, capital and society. One table. Law: the rules that make the market investable. Capital: the money that turns rules into companies. Society: the trust that gives both a mandate.
Without law and without capital: no freedom, no democracy, no innovation. That is why this forum brings law and capital to one table.
The forum is the legal core of the International Space Assembly. As part of the forum, an independent circle for space governance comes together for the first time. This is where the Frankfurt Principles take shape.
The legal market emerging right now
$1.8tn
Global space economy by 2035
€1.2bn
Venture capital for Europe's space start-ups in 2025
800+
Active NewSpace start-ups in Europe
€418bn
EU defence spending in 2025
Every one of these building blocks creates demand for counsel. Not in ten years. Now.
Why Frankfurt
The ECB, the Bundesbank and EIOPA in one place. Twenty kilometres to ESA/ESOC, Europe's space operations centre in Darmstadt. Short distances between policy, capital and industry.
Programme · 31 October 2026 · 09:00 to 13:00
Arrival. The exhibition across campus and forecourt opens.
Bernd Breiter and Prof. Dr. Nils Stieglitz open the forum.
On the main stage: what conditions does an investable, responsible space economy need?
Three parallel rounds: rules and investment certainty · risk and responsibility · first contract and growth.
The results of the working rounds return to the plenary.
What happens with the results, and who takes what forward?
The fellows carry three questions from the morning into the rest of the day.
Panel: Who writes and who finances the rules of the new space economy?
Nine non-public sessions: EU Space Act · space finance · liability and insurance · security and dual use · defence and sovereignty · data and satellite infrastructure · space sustainability · procurement and public contracts · resource rights and ownership.
Young lawyers work directly with partners and institutions on open legal questions.
The thread continues: at 14:00 the Capital Circle asks which next step becomes financeable.
The result of the morning: editorially curated from the forum's consultation process. Publishable, developed together.
WHAT IS NOT FOR SALE
Keynotes, panel seats and roundtable chairs are assigned exclusively by the programme committee on the basis of expertise and editorial judgement. They are not part of any partner package and cannot be bought. Partner places are limited by the format, not by revenue.
Outcome
The Frankfurt Principles: the position paper on the legal architecture of the new space economy. Editorially curated from the forum's consultation process. Publishable, developed together.