Andrea Harrington

Adjunct Professor, Space Resources Program
Andrea Harrington
Prof. Andrea Harrington currently serves as the Co-Director of the Institute of Air and Space Law and Associate Professor in the McGill Faculty of Law. She is a member of the editorial board for the McGill Annals of Air and Space Law, New Space, and the American Bar Association publication The Air and Space Lawyer as well as providing peer review for numerous other publications including Acta Astronautica and Space Policy.  Among other publications, she is the author of the book “Space Insurance and the Law: Maximizing Private Activities in Outer Space,” which won the British Insurance Law Association Book Prize for 2022. Prof. Harrington is a licensed attorney in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She also teaches in the Space Resources Program for the Colorado School of Mines. Her current research focuses on the use of the principle of due regard in space law and international law. 
 
Prof. Harrington previously served as Dean of Space Education at Air University for the United States Space Force (USSF), where she was responsible for overseeing the West Space Seminar and Schriever Space Scholars, as well as leading Guardian Education development efforts for USSF Space Delta 13. In that role, she led the establishment of ground-breaking USSF academic programs in Washington DC through Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Prior to that role, she served as Chair of the Department of Spacepower and Director of the Schriever Space Scholars concentration at Air Command and Staff College, where she was a Full Professor of Military and Security Studies.  There she taught International Space Law and Policy, International Security, and Science Fiction & Military Culture. Before that, Prof. Harrington served as the Associate Director of the Air and Space Law Programs at the University of Mississippi, where she taught International Space Law, US Domestic Space Law, International Private Air Law, US National Aviation Law, and Remote Sensing Law. She has been Associate Chair for the Policy, Economics, and Law Department for the International Space University’s 2018 Space Studies Program, Jr. Project Manager for Secure World Foundation, and researcher on projects for the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation, the International Society for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and the Space Security Index.  
 
Prof. Harrington was an Erin J.C. Arsenault Fellow in Space Governance at the McGill University Institute of Air and Space Law (IASL), where her doctoral research focused on insurance and liability issues for the commercial space industry. Prof. Harrington holds a DCL and LLM from the McGill IASL, as well as a JD with High Honors from the University of Connecticut School of Law, an MSc in European Politics and Governance from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a BA in International Relations and History from Boston University (Magna Cum Laude). Prior to transitioning to air and space law, she was active in the insurance and financial compliance fields.

Contact

andreaharrington@mines.edu

Programs and Research Centers

Education

  • BA in International Relations and History, Boston University
  • MSc in European Politics and Governance, London School of Economics and Political Science
  • JD, University of Connecticut
  • LLM in Air and Space Law, McGill University Institute of Air and Space Law
  • DCL in Air and Space Law, McGill University Institute of Air and Space Law

Research Interests

  • Space Law and Policy
  • International Law
  • International Relations
  • Treaty Interpretation
  • Science Fiction 

Teaching

  • International Space Law and Policy (SPRS 506)

Selected Publications

  • Space Insurance and the Law: Maximizing Private Activities in Outer Space Edward Elgar Publishing, ISBN 1839105852 (2021)
  •  “Insurance as Governance for Outer Space Activities” in Astropolitics, Volume 18 Issue 2 (2020)
  • “National and International Security in Space: International Law Implications of Space Force and Planetary Defense” in Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law, Volume 48 Issue 3 (2020)
  • “Preserving Humanity’s Heritage in Space: 50 Years after Apollo 11 and Beyond” in Journal of Air Law and Commerce, Volume 84 Issue 3 (2019)
  • “Legal and Regulatory Challenges to Leveraging Insurance for Commercial Space” in Journal of Space Law, Volume 41:1 (2017)
  • “Legal Aspects of Solar Power Satellites” co-authored with Ram Jakhu and Diane Howard in Private Law, Public Law, Metalaw and Public Policy in Space: A Liber Amicorum in Honor of Ernst Fasan (Patricia Margaret Sterns & Leslie Tennen, eds.), Springer Publishing, ISBN 3319270850 (2016)