Space Risk

How the growing space sector is exposed to criminal threats, and what affected businesses can do about it

The space economy, on track to pass the trillion-dollar mark by the end of the decade, represents an exciting arena for innovation, investment, and commerce. The sector’s growth, however, is poised to attract the inevitable interest of malicious actors, including pirates and criminals. It’s early in the lifecycle for criminal threats to the space industry, but now is the ideal time to understand the scope and nature of the risks. This half-day training program, presented by the authors of the new book Space Piracy: Preparing for a Criminal Crisis in Orbit (Wiley, 2025), offers an overview of the situation. It defines areas of risk exposure and discusses potential controls and countermeasures to achieve risk mitigation.

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Course overview: 

  • Section I: Overview of Space Risk
    1. A brief overview of the current space economy and projected growth over the coming decade
    2. A brief history of piracy and its relevance to the emerging space industry
    3. Space piracy and crime scenarios
    4. Understanding the players and their motivations
    5. Factoring geopolitics into the space risk equation

 

  • Section II: M&A, Venture Capital, and Private Equity Risk in Space
    1. Space’s hidden financial attack surface, e.g., opaque foreign ownership, cryptocurrencies, unauthorized technology transfers
    2. Examples of hidden space risk in corporate ventures
    3. The legal landscape in space: The official approach vs. global realities
    4. The questionable enforceability of treaties

 

  • Section III: Money Laundering in Space
    1. Why space is such a potentially appealing venue for money laundering
    2. Space money laundering scenarios
    3. The prospective players in space money laundering
    4. The deficiency of current space law and law enforcement in combatting space money laundering

 

  • Section IV: Mitigating Space Risk
    1. Adding space risk to existing risk management frameworks
    2. Detective and preventive controls
    3. Potential risk mitigation strategies to counter the space money laundering problem
    4. The bigger picture: Rethinking government powers, policies, and international cooperation

Participants will each receive a copy of the book Space Piracy: Preparing for a Criminal Crisis in Orbit

About the Trainers

Marc Feldman is managing partner of Eonia Capital Management, an aerospace/space and defense-based venture capital fund. Marc has more than thirty-five years of experience in commercializing technologies and scaling startups. He has led teams across various industries, including life sciences, entertainment, media, telecommunications, consumer products, and aerospace/space. Having worked at and advised Shamrock Capital, Disney, Interpublic Group, Univisa Satellite Services and News Corp, Marc has extensive experience globally, including in Asia, Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and Latin America.

 

Hugh Taylor is the Director of the Center for the Study of Space Crime, Piracy, and Governance. He is the co-author, with Marc Feldman, of the book “Space Piracy: Preparing for a Criminal Crisis in Orbit” (Wiley, 2025). Prior to working in the space sector, Hugh served in executive roles at Silicon Valley startups, Microsoft, and IBM—followed by more than a decade as a freelance content writer in the technology and cybersecurity industries. His writing has appeared in Security Boulevard, The Daily BeastHuffPost, and The Washington Spectator, in addition to his cybersecurity blog, The Journal of Cyber Policy. Hugh was a Lecturer at UC Berkeley’s School of Information and School of Law. He received his BA, Magna Cum Laude from Harvard College in 1988 and his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1992.

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Photo by Antonio Jamal Roberson: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-group-of-administration-inside-of-conference-room-3678057/