Uploaded March 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
With the recent proliferation of countries and companies with access to low earth orbit (and beyond), a host of geopolitical and geoeconomic issues have arisen which require diplomacy informed by sound science and technology analysis. Space Diplomacy needs to consider the involvement of multiple nation-state and private sector actors, burgeoning space infrastructure and satellite internet service providers, launch and space junk scenarios, and deep space regulatory and extractive industry issues.
To address these challenges, the Duke University Center for International and Global Studies(DUCIGS)/Rethinking Diplomacy Program’s Space Diplomacy Lab (SDL) welcomed three leading space policy journalists, Loren Grush (The Verge), Jeff Foust (SpaceNews) and Ramin Skibba (Wired) to offer media perspectives on what they view as the greatest geopolitical challenges in space over the next year.
The event was moderated by Dr. Benjamin L. Scmitt (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and DUCIGS/Rethinking Diplomacy Fellow), joined in conversation by the members of the Space Diplomacy Lab.
The DUCIGS/Rethinking Diplomacy Program is supported by a grant from the Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation Endowment Fund.
About the Speakers:
Loren Grush is a science reporter for The Verge, the technology and culture brand from Vox Media, where she specializes in all things space—from distant stars and planets to human space flight and the commercial space race. The daughter of two NASA engineers, she grew up surrounded by space shuttles and rocket scientists—literally. She is also the host of Space Craft, an original online video series that examines what it takes to send people to space. Before joining The Verge, Loren published stories in Popular Science, The New York Times, Nautilus Magazine, Digital Trends, Fox News, and ABC News.
Jeff Foust is a senior staff writer for SpaceNews, joining the publication in 2014. He covers civil and commercial space topics, ranging from NASA programs to developments in the entrepreneurial NewSpace field. He has more than a decade of experience writing about space policy, commercial space, and related topics. He earned a Ph.D. in planetary sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1999 and a B.S. with honors in geophysics and planetary science from the California Institute of Technology in 1993.
Ramin Skibba is WIRED’s space writer, where he covers the vastest beat, including space politics, space diplomacy, space science, space environmentalists, space conflicts, and the space industry, from launch to reentry. Prior to joining WIRED, he freelanced for Scientific American, The Atlantic, Undark magazine, Slate, and other magazines, and before that, he explored the cosmos himself as an astrophysicist, and he earned a master’s degree in science communication at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He’s based in San Diego.
For more on the Space Diplomacy Lab: https://sites.duke.edu/spacediplomacylab/
With the recent proliferation of countries and companies with access to low earth orbit (and beyond), a host of geopolitical and geoeconomic issues have arisen which require diplomacy informed by sound science and technology analysis. Space Diplomacy needs to consider the involvement of multiple nation-state and private sector actors, burgeoning space infrastructure and satellite internet service providers, launch and space junk scenarios, and deep space regulatory and extractive industry issues.
To address these challenges, the Duke University Center for International and Global Studies(DUCIGS)/Rethinking Diplomacy Program’s Space Diplomacy Lab (SDL) welcomed three leading space policy journalists, Loren Grush (The Verge), Jeff Foust (SpaceNews) and Ramin Skibba (Wired) to offer media perspectives on what they view as the greatest geopolitical challenges in space over the next year.
The event was moderated by Dr. Benjamin L. Scmitt (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and DUCIGS/Rethinking Diplomacy Fellow), joined in conversation by the members of the Space Diplomacy Lab.
The DUCIGS/Rethinking Diplomacy Program is supported by a grant from the Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation Endowment Fund.
About the Speakers:
Loren Grush is a science reporter for The Verge, the technology and culture brand from Vox Media, where she specializes in all things space—from distant stars and planets to human space flight and the commercial space race. The daughter of two NASA engineers, she grew up surrounded by space shuttles and rocket scientists—literally. She is also the host of Space Craft, an original online video series that examines what it takes to send people to space. Before joining The Verge, Loren published stories in Popular Science, The New York Times, Nautilus Magazine, Digital Trends, Fox News, and ABC News.
Jeff Foust is a senior staff writer for SpaceNews, joining the publication in 2014. He covers civil and commercial space topics, ranging from NASA programs to developments in the entrepreneurial NewSpace field. He has more than a decade of experience writing about space policy, commercial space, and related topics. He earned a Ph.D. in planetary sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1999 and a B.S. with honors in geophysics and planetary science from the California Institute of Technology in 1993.
Ramin Skibba is WIRED’s space writer, where he covers the vastest beat, including space politics, space diplomacy, space science, space environmentalists, space conflicts, and the space industry, from launch to reentry. Prior to joining WIRED, he freelanced for Scientific American, The Atlantic, Undark magazine, Slate, and other magazines, and before that, he explored the cosmos himself as an astrophysicist, and he earned a master’s degree in science communication at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He’s based in San Diego.
For more on the Space Diplomacy Lab: https://sites.duke.edu/spacediplomacylab/
