The Speakers

Rocell is one of the project managers of the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) tasked with managing the transition of the Department of Science and Technology's (DOST) space-related projects and initiatives to the agency. Before moving to the PhilSA, he was previously with the DOST-Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) where he handled the implementation and operations of the Philippine Earth Data Resource and Observation (PEDRO) Center, the Ground Receiving Archiving Science Product Development and Distribution (GRASPED), and the Synthetic Aperture Radar and Automatic Identification System for Innovative Terrestrial Monitoring and Maritime Surveillance projects. These projects complement government agencies with data gathered from space, such as satellite images, to support data-driven decision and policy-making. He graduated with a degree in BS Electronics and Communications Engineering from the Ateneo de Manila University and is currently part of the Office of the Director General of the PhilSA.

Atty. Melissa Anne Telan is the Acting Director of the Economic and Sociocultural Treaties Division at the Office of Treaties and Legal Affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs.  She joined the DFA in 2017 as a Foreign Service Officer. Previously, she worked as an Intellectual Property Attorney at Shusaku Yamamoto Patent Attorneys in Osaka, Japan. Atty. Telan obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree, major in Communication, from the Ateneo de Manila University, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of the Philippines (U.P.) College of Law. She completed the Master of European and International Laws Programme, specializing in International Trade Law, at Saarland University in Germany. She is currently teaching International Trade Law at the U.P. College of Law, under its Master of Laws Program.

Simonetta Di Pippo is Director of United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), a position which sees her lead the Office’s strategic, policy and programmatic activites and advising the UN Secretary-General on space related matters. Prior to joining UNOOSA, she served as Director of Human Spaceflight at the European Space Agency (ESA), and previously also Director of the Observation of the Universe at the Italian National Space Agency, ASI. She is an Academician of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and was member of its Board of Trustees. She is member of World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Future Council on space technology since 2016. She co-founded Women in Aerospace Europe in 2009. In 2017, she became a UN International Gender Champion. She holds a Master’s Degree in Astrophysics and Space Physics from University “La Sapienza”, and Honoris Causa Degree in Environmental Studies, and an Honoris Causa Degree of Doctor in International Affairs. In 2008, IAU named asteroid 21887 “Dipippo” in honour of her contribution to space activities.

Professor Koplow specializes in the areas of public international law and national security law. He joined the Georgetown Law faculty in 1981. His principal courses have been International Law I (the introductory survey of public international law topics), a seminar in the area of arms control, non-proliferation and terrorism, and the pro-seminar for LLM students in national security law. In addition, he has directed a clinic, the Center for Applied Legal Studies, in which students provide pro bono representation to refugees who seek asylum in the United States because of persecution in their homelands. His government service has included stints as Special Counsel for Arms Control to the General Counsel of the Department of Defense (2009-2011); as Deputy General Counsel for International Affairs at the Department of Defense (1997-1999); and as Attorney-Advisor and Special Assistant to the Director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (1978-1981). He is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School and a Rhodes Scholar. Most of his scholarly writing concentrates on the intersection between international law and U.S. constitutional law, especially in the areas of arms control and national security and treaty negotiation and implementation. His recent works include Deterrence as the MacGuffin: The Case for Arms Control in Outer Space (10 J. Nat'l Security L. & Pol'y 293-349 (2020)), Exoatmospheric Plowshares: Using a Nuclear Explosive Device for Planetary Defense Against an Incoming Asteroid, (23 UCLA J. Int’l L. & Foreign Aff. 76-158 (2019)), and The Fault Is Not in Our Stars: Avoiding an Arms Race in Outer Space, (59 Harv. Int'l L.J. 331-388 (2018)).

Steven Freeland is Professor of International Law at Western Sydney University, specialising in Commercial Space Law, and previously the Dean of the School of Law. He also holds Visiting or Adjunct positions at Universities/Institutes in Copenhagen, Vienna, Toulouse, Hong Kong, Montreal, Kuala Lumpur and London. Prior to becoming an academic, he had a 20-year career as an international commercial lawyer and an investment banker. He is a Member of the Advisory Group of the Australian Space Agency and has been an advisor to the Australian, New Zealand, Norwegian and several other Governments on issues relating to national space legislative frameworks and policy, and represented the Australian Government at Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS) meetings. He has also been appointed by UNCOPUOS to co-chair multilateral discussions on the exploration, exploitation and utilisation of space resources. He is a Director of the International Institute of Space Law, and a Member of the Space Law Committees of both the International Bar Association and International Law Association.