UW News blog

October 29, 2025

Annual symposium pushes the UW, and Seattle, to forefront of space diplomacy

Seattle is well-known as a space industrial hub. In 2024, 90% of the satellites launched into space were designed or built in the Greater Seattle area. Washington state manufactured more than half of the satellites currently orbiting earth, and is eventually projected to produce more than 75% of the world’s satellites.

Saadia Pekkanen, a University of Washington professor of international studies, believes the city can expand its reach even further by also becoming a hub for space diplomacy. This mission led her to start the annual Space Diplomacy Symposium at the UW in 2023.

The SDS — co-sponsored by the Space Law, Data and Policy Program (SPACE LDP) in the UW School of Law and the Program on Strategy, Policy, and Diplomacy Research in the UW Jackson School of International Studies (SPDR) — aims to center diplomacy in civilian, commercial and military space activities.

“I want the world, not just our nation, to pay attention to what’s going on in Seattle’s industry,” said Pekkanen, who is the founding director of SPACE LDP and SPDR. “Seattle is becoming the leading hub for satellites and megaconstellations, but we’re also trying to become the place for regulatory policy and building diplomatic collaborations. All of this serves the interests not just of educators, but also our community. Seattle can lead the way for what space diplomacy might look like.”

There is no shortage of space technology in the world, Pekkanen said, but it’s dialogue and diplomacy that makes it grow. 

“It’s important to have capabilities, but it’s also important to position those capabilities in a very fiercely competitive international system,” she said. “How can we advance those capabilities in a way that’s good for our community and that’s good for whoever may be interested in buying them?”

This year’s SDS keynote speaker is Esther Brimmer, the James H. Binger senior fellow in global governance at the Council on Foreign Relations. Brimmer will reflect on the role of diplomacy in international space relations while also raising awareness of essential space-related topics. Brimmer directed the Council of Foreign Relation’s report, “Securing Space: A Plane for U.S. Action,” on which Pekkanen served as a task force member. 

Symposium panelists will include representatives from the Cabinet Office of Japan, the U.S. Space Force, the Space Law Council of Australia and New Zealand, and Harvard Medical School.

Pekkanen had three major motivations for establishing the SDS.

“The first one was, nobody else was doing it,” she said. “So now we are the only ones in the world. The UW has a standing platform.”

Secondly, she said, the symposium gives UW and the Seattle area an opportunity to draw attention to the next generation of regulatory, policy and diplomatic challenges. 

Finally, Pekkanen said, universities have a remarkable, but siloed, ecosystem. The SDS helps bridge the gap by gathering thought leaders from across academic departments.

“We have so many people at the UW with different competencies that are at the cutting edge of where space is going,” Pekkanen said. “We need to come together to begin building the sort of policy and diplomatic foundation for what matters.”

The SDS started as a way to bring together experts and build community. But as the event grows, Pekkanen also views it as a way to bring special topics to the table.

“It’s fiction that space has nothing to do with war, or that it only has to do with prosperity,” she said. “This is a dual-use technology that cuts across both. This year, for the first time, we have more specific themes.”

Jessica Beyer, a UW assistant teaching professor of international studies and lead of the Jackson School’s Cybersecurity Initiative, will preside over a military space diplomacy panel that will focus on cybersecurity. 

A key topic on the space diplomacy side will be megaconstellations —  large groups of satellites that work together to provide a service. James Davenport, a UW research assistant professor of astronomy and associate director of the UW Institute for Data-intensive Research in Astrophysics and Cosmology (DiRAC) will host the panel.

The commercial diplomacy panel will be moderated by Amy Hinterberger, an associate professor of bioethics and humanities in the UW School of Medicine. One key topic for these experts will be the medical and biological challenges of sustaining humanity in space.

“It’s space!” Pekkanen said. “Who is not interested? It’s a hopeful vision. It gives people hope that we can build something and sustain something good not just for our community, but also nationally and internationally.”

For more information, contact Pekkanen at smp1@uw.edu.

Tag(s): Jackson School of International Studies • Program on Strategy Policy and Diplomacy Research • Saadia Pekkanen • School of Law • Space Diplomacy Symposium • Space Law Data and Policy Program

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