Colloquium on Space-Cyber Power
Project of the Indiana University Space Governance Lab
Webinar, January 29-30, 2026
Summary
The Colloquium Conveners welcome the participants of the Colloquium organized by Indiana University Bloomington’s Space Governance Lab as part of the three-year project funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR): Toward an Integrated Theory of Space-Cyber Power. The Colloquium will be held remotely, to accommodate participants from across the nation on January 29-30, 2025.
RSVP below to register and receive a link to the online event.
Theme
The Colloquium will discuss the foundations for the missing theory of space-cyber power: what power means in the 21st century, in an era of combined space-cyber theaters and operations, and how the U.S. can accumulate, project, and leverage space-cyber power for its defense and economic growth and to maintain and increase its influence.
A theory of space-cyber power may integrate the space and cyberspace domains into a single nexus. Moreover, it may integrate both military and commercial space-cyber capabilities as essential elements of power.
The Colloquium is transdisciplinary and includes thought-provoking and exploratory papers, selected via a competitive Call for Papers, from multiple discipline including strategic studies, international relations, international law, and international political economy, as well as. contributions from active and retired defense/government personnel.
The Book
The Colloquium will lead to a final report to be submitted to the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force, as well as to policymakers in D.C., and published as an edited book by Cambridge University Press.
The Project
Indiana University’s Space Governance Lab launched a 3-year research project funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) (2024-2027): Toward an Integrated Theory of Space-Cyber Power.
The project convenes a diverse epistemic community of scholars and experts, brokers of power, experienced statesmen, and military professionals to discuss and lay the foundations for a theory of space-cyber power. Through a series of focused workshops, wargames, and tabletop exercises, held under the Chatham rule, and the Colloquium, participants will engender commonly defined concepts, challenge prevailing conceptions, and seek to illuminate factors in metaphorical blind spots. The project was officially launched by Workshop 1: Launch! held in Washington D.C. on March 7, 2025. The Colloquium will be the second event as part of the project.
Indiana University’s Space Governance Lab has already made pioneering research contributions in identifying, signaling, and studying the space-cyber nexus and with the introduction of the nation’s first academic courses on space cybersecurity and space-cyber governance. This project builds and adds on this previous work.
Colloquium Organizers
Scott J. Shackelford JD, PhD
Provost Professor, Associate Vice President & Vice Chancellor for Research
Indiana University-Bloomington
Eytan Tepper, PhD
Research Professor, Space Governance & Security and Director, Space Governance Lab
Indiana University-Bloomington
Robert Templeman, PhD
Principal Scientist for Resilient Systems
Leidos
Research Assistants
James B. Romano, Senior Research Assistant
Madelyn Gamble, Research Assistant
Zachary Kistler, Research Assistant
Find Us
Agenda
Day 1 - January 29th, 2026
Introduction
9:00-9:15 |
Opening Remarks: The Need for A Theory of Space-Cyber Power and Its Concepts
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Session 1: Theories of Power
Moderator: Eytan Tepper
9:15-9:25 |
Theories of Air, Sea, and Land Power and its Application to Space Cyber Power
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9:25-9:55 |
Beyond Terrestrial Realms: Translating Clausewitzian Order of Battle Concepts for Integrated Space-Cyber Power
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9:55-10:25 |
From Theory to Practice: Defining Space Cyber Power
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10:25-10:40 |
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Session 2: The Space-Cyber Nexus as a Warfighting Domain
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10:40-11:10 |
Satellites, Sovereignty, and Security: The Rise of Space as Critical Infrastructure in Great Power Competition
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11:10-11:40 |
Critical Infrastructure as Power: Toward a Strategic Theory of the Space-Cyber Nexus
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11:40-12:10 |
Space Critical Infrastructure: Governance, Legal Challenges, and a Model for the Space Economy and Space Power
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12:10-12:45 |
Lunch
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12:45-1:15 |
A Primer on Space Cybersecurity
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1:15-1:45 | The Risky Great Power Competition in Space
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1:45-2:15 | The Power of Secure Power for Deep-Space Exploration
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2:15-2:45 |
Unveiling the Shadows: Examining the Background of Space Supply Chains
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2:45-3:15 |
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Session 3: Law, Ethics, and the Future of the Final Frontier
Moderators: Scott J. Shackelford & Afonso Seixas-Nunes
3:15-3:30 |
Law and Ethics in the Final Frontier
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3:30-4:00 |
Just War is Space: Does the Character of Space Warfare Demand a Revisionist Account of Just War Theory?
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4:00-4:30 |
A Struggle for the Core: What the Diplomatic Battle over the Creation of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 Reveal About the Cyber-Space Nexus
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4:30-5:00 |
The 1967 Outer Space Treaty and the Problem of Corporate Appropriation: Quo Vadis?
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5:00-5:30 |
Cybersecurity in Space: The Attribution Advantage?
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5:30-5:40 |
Conclusion: Day 1
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Day 2 - January 30th, 2026
Introduction
9:00-9:10 |
Day 2: Opening Remarks
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Session 3: Law, Ethics, and the Future of the Final Frontier - Continued
Moderators: Sam Visner
9:10-9:40 |
Make It So: A Human-Centered Approach to Space Cybersecurity
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9:40-10:10 |
Applicability of International Space and Cybersecurity Law: the State Responsibility for AI-Enabled Satellite Surveillance in the Space-Cyber Nexus
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10:10-10:25 | Break |
Session 4: The Role of the Commercial Space Industry in Space-Cyber Power
Moderator: Christos A Makridis
10:25-11:15 |
Privatizing Space Power: Revisiting Article VI and the Corporate Challenge to International Space Governance
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11:15-11:45 |
Lessons From the Ancient Romans: Public-Private Governance of Sea and Air Frontiers
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11:45-12:15 |
Competitiveness in the space innovation ecosystem
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12:15-12:50 |
Lunch
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12:50-1:20 |
The Hidden Constraints on America's Space Economy: Fixing the Frictions in U.S. Commercial Space Partnerships
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Session 5: The Space-Cyber Nexus: Strategy and Security in the 21st Century: Remarks
Moderators: Eytan Tepper & Matthew Zellner
1:20-1:50 |
Glory, Gold, and God: Terrestrial Lessons Informing Security Issues on the Space Frontier
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1:50-2:20 |
Integrated Deterrence in the Nexus of Space and Cyber
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2:20-2:30 | |
2:30-3:00 |
Eliminating Artificial Silos in the Age of Convergence: Revising Joint Doctrine for Space and Cyberspace Operations to Enable Space-Cyber Power Projection
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3:00-3:30 |
Acquiring Dominance/Hegemony/Leadership in the Global Commons in the Twenty-first Century
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3:30-4:00 |
The Space-Cyber Nexus in 21st Century Grand Strategy: Organizing Polycentric Regionalism
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4:00-4:15 |
Conclusion: Toward an Integrated Theory of Space-Cyber Power
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