An Aberdeen academic has been awarded almost £300,000 by The British Academy to examine how artificial intelligence is governed in outer space.
As activities ranging from satellite operations and space traffic management to defence, exploration and resource utilization become increasingly reliant on AI-driven systems, a number of legal, ethical and governance challenges arise, including key aspects of space systems cybersecurity.
Dr Maria Manoli, lecturer in space law at the University of Aberdeen, will lead an international and interdisciplinary team of scholars who will draw on expertise across law, social sciences and technology studies to develop internationally relevant insights for policymakers, regulators and space actors.
The research has been made possible through a grant from The British Academy’s Knowledge Frontiers: International Interdisciplinary Research Projects 2026 scheme.
Dr Manoli is a leading scholar in international space law, with particular expertise in governance, power and emerging technologies in space. She joined the University of Aberdeen in 2022 after completing her PhD at the Institute of Air and Space Law of McGill University’s Law Faculty as an Erin J.C. Arsenault doctoral Fellow in Space Governance.
Dr Maria Manoli
Her work on AI and space sits at the intersection of public international law, cybersecurity law, critical legal studies and science and technology studies, with a strong focus on how legal frameworks shape - and are shaped by - technological change.
Commenting on the award, Dr Manoli said: “AI is rapidly becoming embedded in space systems, yet the governance frameworks that apply to its use beyond Earth remain fragmented and underdeveloped, raising legal and cybersecurity challenges. This funding is vital because it allows us to bring together diverse international perspectives to think carefully and critically about how AI in space should be governed before practices become entrenched.
“The British Academy’s support makes it possible to conduct genuinely interdisciplinary research that goes beyond technical solutions, foregrounding questions of responsibility, power, equity and long-term sustainability in outer space.”
The British Academy is the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences. Its Knowledge Frontiers programme supports ambitious international and interdisciplinary research projects that address complex transnational and planetary challenges, including transformative technologies, global governance and outer space. Through this programme, the Academy aims to demonstrate the crucial role of humanities - and social science - led research in shaping global futures and informing policy.
Dr Manoli’s co-investigators on the ‘Governing AI in the Final Frontier’ project are Dr Wanshu Cong from Australian National University; Professor Upsana Dasgupta from OP Jindal Global University; Professor Lukas Vanhonnaeker from the University of Montreal; Professor Georgious D. Kyriakopoulos from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens; and and Dr Stefania Soldini from the University of Liverpool.
Dr Manoli will also be working with Dr Raja Akram and Dr Pradip Sharma from our University’s School of Natural and Computing Sciences and Dr Paula Sweeny from the School of Divinity, History, Philosophy & Art History, as well as with a diverse team of international collaborators from academia and the space industry.