Prof. Dr. Christian Brünner
Prof. Christian Brünner is Professor Emeritus of Public Law at the University of Graz. He is also a lecturer of Space Law and Space Policy at the University of Graz, the ECSL Summer Courses and the ISU Space Studies Program.
He was Rector of the University of Graz, Chairman of the Austrian Rector’s Conference, Member of the Austrian National Parliament and of the Styrian Regional Parliament.
He is founder of the Austrian National Point of Contact (NPOC), ECSL / ESA, which he chaired for several years. Furthermore he is member of the ECSL Board (since 2003), the International Institute of Space Law (IISL), the International Academy of Astronautics and the Austrian Delegation to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS).
Besides publications in the fields of education(al law), University management, control, parliamentarianism, and religious and ethnical minorities Prof. Brünner has authored and/or edited several publications in space law, including the book (as co-editor) Outer Space in Society, Politics and Law which was awarded the Social Sciences Book Award of the International Academy of Astronautics 2012, and the book (as co-editor) Satellite-Based Earth Observation. Trends and Challenges for Economy and Society (2018), which was awarded the Social Sciences Book Award of the International Academy of Astronautics 2019. He initiated the instructional aid Space Law Essentials, which consists of a textbook and a casebook (and co-authored the latter), the second edition of which was published in 2020.
Furthermore he was awarded the Polarstern Award 2015 by the Austrian Space Forum (Österreichisches Weltraum Forum). He received the International Institute of Space Law’s Lifetime Achievement Award 2019 for his outstanding engagement in the field of space law and space policy and continued efforts to garner interest in the subject among young people.
Prof. Brünner is active in various fields to raise public awareness of space and the benefits of spaceexploration and utilization for mankind.
