Commercial parties offering space travel, space waste, claiming the moon, potentially exploiting resources ... It’s going to get busy in space in the coming years. But there are no clear agreements about this. Tanja Masson-Zwaan, Assistant Professor of Space Law, talked about the topic in Spraakmakers…

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has announced that Tanja Hendriks, along with 17 Leiden University researchers, will receive a Veni grant, embedded at the ASCL. With this grant, Hendriks will be able to develop the research project 'Taking a Risk on Disasters: speculative humanitarianism amidst a changing…

For years now, collaboration has been the operative word when it comes to successful space missions. But this can only be achieved with good agreements.

The moon exerts a pull on us. The Americans won the space race and were first to land there. In the Universiteit van Nederland, space law expert Tanja Masson explores the questions that this raises. Who owns the moon and the valuable resources that are found there?

This week an article was published in the American popular science magazine Scientific American on the uncertainty surrounding the extent to which territory can be claimed on the moon.

Satellites belonging to American space company SpaceX recently came very close to a Chinese space station. Experts are calling for traffic management rules in space.

Tanja Masson-Zwaan, an assistant professor at the Institute of Air and Space Law, spoke on Friday 14 April about space mining on BBC Radio.

The European Space Agency (ESA) introduces the members of the European Center for Space Law (ECSL) on its website through interviews with its members. One of those members is Tanja Masson-Zwaan.

NASA is offering to buy lunar samples collected by companies for a token sum primarily to set a precedent for space resource rights on the moon. However, there is not international consensus on the U.S. position on the rights to extracted resources.

During a working visit to a company that cleans up space debris, the British Prince Charles suggested that a climate agreement specifically for space might be a good idea. Experts, including Leiden Law School’s Tanja Masson-Zwaan, say the idea is wishful thinking.

“Het is niet genoeg dat Amerika aanwezig is in de ruimte. Amerika moet domineren”, zegt Donald Trump tijdens een bijeenkomst met de Nationale Ruimteraad. Zodoende wil hij naast de land-, zee-, en luchtmacht een nieuwe militaire kracht oprichten: de Space Force. Ruimterecht deskundige Tanja Masson denkt…

Tanja heeft zich sedert 1985 met haar bijzondere en veelzijdige talenten ingezet voor het opbouwen van het internationaal Instituut voor Lucht- en Ruimterecht, waarvan zij vanaf de oprichting codirecteur is.

It has been a coming and going of satellites and spaceships near the moon. It has not been this busy in years. There are currently more than ten moon missions in progress and another five are being scheduled for next year.

During the second episode of this Leiden Law podcast, hosts Juli Wentholt and Ishana Badhai will talk with Tanja Masson-Zwaan about the latest developments in Space Law.

Hoogleraar Internationaal Belastingrecht Tanja Bender heeft een vermelding gekregen in het boek Recognising 100 Years of Women in Tax.

Assistant Professor Space Law Tanja Masson-Zwaan appeared as a guest on the Radio Weetlust programme of local Leiden radio station Sleutelstad FM. She talked about, among other things, who does the moon actually belong to and why we all would like to go there so badly.

Wereldwijd worden veel samenwerkingsverbanden met Rusland stopgezet vanwege de oorlog in Oekraïne. Hoe zit dat met de ruimtevaart, waar de Russen ook een groot aandeel in hebben?

Various countries are planning new missions to the Moon. Not just for prestige and science, but also to extract raw materials.

Space travel has long since progressed from being just about rockets, travelling to the moon, and Russia and America. The Netherlands has its own Space Agency and one of its important tasks is collecting and making available increasingly advanced satellite data.

Tanja Masson-Zwaan and Dimitra Stefoudi of the International Institute of Air and Space Law (IIASL) in Leiden, along with two others, co-edited the book ‘Building Blocks for the Development of an International Framework for the Governance of Space Resource Activities. A Commentary’.

Space is of enormous strategic value. Having rules in space therefore is to everyone’s advantage.

Dr Tanja Masson-Zwaan, assistant professor at the International Institute of Air and Space Law, recently visited four universities and a research institute in China. During her visit to Wuhan University, Masson-Zwaan was appointed as an adjunct professor. She was handed a certificate by Professor Xiao…

Space is becoming increasingly busier due to the launching of satellites and tourists. But no binding international agreements have been made since 1979. This is problematic, warns space lawyer Tanja Masson-Zwaan. ‘Everyone’s putting their own interests first.’

Lecture

Our staff and students serve on task forces that aim to translate key Una Europa themes into concrete actions.

The Una Europa Clusters bring together leading experts and experienced staff from numerous academic and professional service departments across the Una Europa institutions.

Linguistic research on a unique collection of Dutch letters allowed us to gain access to the every-day language of people from various walks of life. Private letters by men, women and even children have been elaborately explored in the Letters as Loot researchprogramme, initiated and directed by prof.…

Each month, we will interview a student or staff member from Leiden University about their work or studies in relation to sustainability.

It is generally accepted that a university education is about more than knowledge transfer alone. Alongside knowledge and understanding, students should develop the skills required to apply this knowledge and understanding.

Sound & Score brings together music expertise from prominent international researchers and performers exploring the intimate relations between sound, score and notation, and the artistic possibilities that this relationship yields for performers, composers and listeners.

The labour market has seen significant changes in recent decades, not least in terms of greater flexibility and digitisation. Leiden University is keen to prepare students for a working life in which flexibility, resilience and adaptability will be essential qualities. The university’s vision on teaching…

How do tax treaties have to be explained and implemented, and what role does the supranational regulatory process play in this? Which objectives are meant to be used in establishing tax regulations and to what extent are such legislative practices undertaken in a goal-oriented manner?.

This special issue of the Journal of European Policy presents results from the research on the European Union Enlargement and its Integration Capacity. The Journal of European Public Policy is one of the leading journals in this field.

The International Astronautical Congress (IAC) that took place last week in Paris was extremely successful for IIASL.

How are we celebrating our anniversary in 2025 on the faculty?

Africa has a population of 1.5 billion people. By 2050, this number is projected to rise to 2.5 billion. The continent’s impact on the global economy, societies but also on the environment, will therefore increase drastically.

Welcome to your starting point for collaboration with the Leiden Learning & Innovation Centre. Whether you're part of Leiden University or an external organization, this page will direct you to the right pages and contacts, ensuring a smooth beginning to our collaboration.

Conference

We are launching more and more satellites and space is filling up as a result. Currently around 100 million pieces of space debris are floating around Earth. So who’s going to clear it up?