Space Law & Policy Concultancy Team

CONSULTANT

Adv. Anıl Akyol is an attorney registered with the Ankara Bar Association. He is a Co-Founder and Vice President of Altair Unmanned Vehicle Systems, Space and Law Association, and served as the Chairman of the Ankara Bar Association's Air and Space Law Board during the 2022–2024 term. He is also the Regulations and Space Law Team Leader at the Mars on Earth Project, a Member of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye Dispute Resolution Center, a Member of the Space Law and Policy Project Group at the Space Generation Advisory Council, and the Co-Coordinator of the Moon Village Association Türkiye.

He graduated from Atılım University Faculty of Law with a full scholarship and completed his M.A. in Public Law at the same university's Graduate School of Social Sciences, where he is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Public Law with a focus on space law. He is the author of Legal Issues Regarding Satellite Constellations in Space Law, published by Yetkin in Ankara in 2024.

His main field of interest is space industry. In addition to his academic work in the space sector, he is actively engaged in civil society initiatives, projects, and editorial activities, provides consultancy to companies operating in the space industry, and offers mentorship to young professionals. He continues his independent legal practice as the founder of Ankara Akyol Legal since 2022.

CONSULTANT

Dr. Merve Erdem Burger currently runs her independent space law consultancy in Switzerland and Türkiye, and provides specialized training in space law for academic institutions and government agencies. Before establishing her consultancy, she completed her post-doctoral research at the Chair of Public International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, where she also taught International Space Law in the Master of Law program.

Prior to her time in Neuchâtel, Dr. Erdem Burger served as a research assistant at the Chair of International Law, Faculty of Law, Ankara University, Türkiye, where she also earned both her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the Graduate School of Social Sciences. Her extensive research focuses on international space law, including the interpretation and implementation of space treaties, as well as more recent work on the role of national space law and policy in promoting space sustainability and the development of a circular space economy.

She is the co-founder of the Swiss Space Law Forum, a special interest group within the Swiss Society of International Law, where she organizes the Forum’s annual conferences and smaller events on contemporary issues in space law. Dr. Erdem Burger is also a member of the International Institute of Space Law and serves as a board member of the Space Exploration Society of Türkiye.

Mr. Akyol and Dr. Erdem Burger collaborate as a joint space law and policy advisory team, combining their academic expertise and sectoral experience to support actors across the global space and telecommunications ecosystem. Their partnership is grounded in complementary research interests, co-authored publications, and ongoing consultancy engagements focused on the legal, regulatory, and policy dimensions of outer space activities.

Together, they have co-authored significant scholarly work, including:

• “Space Logistics and Space Law”, the closing chapter of the book Space Technologies, Applications and Logistics published by Nobel Academic Publishing.
• The forthcoming Lexology - Space Law Country Review: Turkiye, which examines the current legal and regulatory framework governing space activities in Turkiye, including satellite licensing, spectrum and orbital resource coordination, taxation and other mechanisms (publication pending).

Joint Advisory Services

Leveraging their combined expertise and professional networks, they offer legal, regulatory and policy consulting services for government bodies, space agencies, start-ups, satellite operators, defense and dual-use technology companies, international organizations, and investment/finance entities. Their advisory focus includes, among others:

• International space law and compliance with UN space treaties
• National space legislation and licensing regimes
• Legal affairs regarding spectrum and orbital slot management
• Regulations on satcom, EO and remote-sensing
• Space insurance and liability
• Standards on on-orbit servicing, debris mitigation and sustainability
• Contract drafting and negotiation
• Strategic policy design, legislative drafting and implementation roadmaps.