Eamon Lawson is a pioneer by definition.
In 2018, Australia passed its first regulatory framework for civil space activities. Lawson was among the first lawyers to hack his way through the new legalese—and make it out unscathed, on the other side.
Uncharted territory: As the regulatory lead for Australia’s Southern Launch company, he has been instrumental in enabling many Australian firsts.
Lawson and his team were the applicant and recipient of Australia’s first high-powered launch license, which supported HyImpulse’s 2024 launch test. He was also involved in securing the country’s first reentry license, which allowed Varda Space’s spacecraft to land at Southern Launch’s Koonibba test range in South Australia.
Lawson makes the process seem easy, but dealing with the Australian government—a new regulator in the space sector—was anything but.
“Through this process, [we] kind of helped develop…the regulatory framework for launch and return in Australia,” Lawson told Payload. “They were a nascent regulator within the Australian Space Agency, working with this really novel legislation [they] never had to implement before…So it’s been great to grow alongside [them].”
Lawson found that the government was open to feedback on how to make the regulation work for the first time. As a result, he has been advocating for improvements, and helping to build the common practices that will help the country’s entire space industry grow and thrive.
Going together: Lawson hasn’t notched these achievements through brute force, however. Instead, he said he aims to find common ground to meet the needs of both Southern Launch and the local community.
Built on Aboriginal land in South Australia, Southern Launch’s facilities take care to involve the Aboriginal community in many of the company’s decisions. That means not just getting their consent to launch and return things from space, but employing the community to assist with company operations—and reinvesting in the local area, to drive economic growth in the region.
“It’s not just this token Aboriginal engagement… We engage them for several aspects, including the engagement of cultural monitors who consult on a per-activity basis around the landing locations,” Lawson said. “The site really is run in partnership with them.”
