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Master of Science (M.Sc.), Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford

Bachelor of Business Administration, Bachelor of Laws (Honours) (B.B.A. LL.B. Hons.), University of Mumbai's School of Law

Prof. Adithya Variath

Assistant Professor and Assistant Dean

Email adithya.variath@jgu.edu.in
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ORCID ID 0000-0001-7693-1010
Key Expertise Space Law, Aviation Law, Public International Law

Master of Science (M.Sc.), Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford

Bachelor of Business Administration, Bachelor of Laws (Honours) (B.B.A. LL.B. Hons.), University of Mumbai's School of Law

Biography

Adithya Variath is an Assistant Professor at the Jindal Global Law School. He is a Fellow at the Centre for International Legal Studies at JGLS. 

Adithya was an Elizabeth Moir Scholar at the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development, reading an MSc in Global Governance and Diplomacy at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. Before moving to Oxford, he served as an Assistant Professor of Law and founding Coordinator/Head of the Centre for Research in Air and Space Laws at Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai (MNLU-M). He was the Academic Supervisor of the TradeLab Law Clinic and a Member of the Research Council at MNLU-M. He has taught courses at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, the University of Mumbai, and the National Institute of Securities Markets. He serves as the Editor of the Indian Review of Air and Space Law, is a Research Fellow at the Information Society Law Center, University of Milan, Italy, and a member of the International Academy of Space Law, Russia. 

Adithya’s research focuses on space and aviation laws, emerging technologies, and global institutional design. He publishes frequently on international space law and related issues. His recent books include — International Space Law in the New Space Era: Principles and Challenges (Oxford University Press, 2024); Artemis Accords and Resource Mining in Outer Space (Springer, 2025) and Legal Responses to Space Resource Utilisation (Springer, 2026).
 

Elizabeth Moir Graduate Scholarship, Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development at Somerville College, University of Oxford, 2024

International Research Fellowship, Information Society Law Center, Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy, 2022
 

‘A Study of Airport Governance in India under the Contemporary International Legal Regime’ Joint Research Project by the Centre for Aviation and Space Laws, West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata and the Centre for Research in Air and Space Law, Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai, 2022-24 [Project Value: 11 Lakhs INR]

Research Assistant (Project on the Ethics of AI in National Defence), Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, February 2025 to March 2025

Visiting Faculty (Space Law and Policy), Department of Aerospace Engineering, IIT Bombay, 2024

Legal Research Member, Association for International Legal Research on Space Sustainability, Paris, France, November 2023 to present

Research Group Member, Centre for AI and Digital Policy, Washington, United States, 2022

Visiting Faculty, National Institute of Securities Markets, SEBI, 2022-24

Editor, Indian Review of Air and Space Law

Editorial Board, Acta Caeli et Astronautica (ACeA), Centre for Air and Space Policy, Indonesia

Advisory Member (Space Law and Policy), ASTRA-LM (Analog Station for Terrestrial Research in Astronautics – Lunar & Martian): April 2024 to present

Expert, UNESCO Inclusive Policy Lab: July 2023 to present

Sandeepa Bhat and Adithya Variath (eds.), Legal Responses to Space Resource Utilisation (Springer, 2026)

“Artemis Accords Diplomacy and Resource Utilisation: Strategic Coalitions and Norms Setting Beyond Multilateralism”. In Sandeepa Bhat and Adithya Variath (eds.), Legal Responses to Space Resource Utilisation (Springer, 2026)

“Third World Approaches to Space Mining, Equity, and Erosion of the Common Heritage of Humankind”. In Hamid Jahankhani (ed.), Space Mining: Humanity’s Quest for Equity (Springer, 2026) (with Farhanaz Hazari)

“TWAIL Critique of International Economic Law”. In Krista Nadakavukaren and Thomas Cottier (eds.), Edward Elgar Encyclopedia of International Economic Law (Edward Elgar, 2026)

Sandeepa Bhat and Adithya Variath (eds.), Artemis Accords and Resource Mining in the Outer Space (Springer Nature, 2025), pp. XVI, 204, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-95-0152-6

“Evolutionary Patterns of Earth System Laws and Outer Space Governance: Future of Space Law and Policy in the Third/Fourth World” (2026) 5 (4) Space Education & Strategic Applications Journal 265-71

“Krishna Rao, India and the Exclusionary Making of Space Law.” (2025) 114(2) The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs (Taylor & Francis)

“Artemis Accords as Evolutive Law-Making: Lunar Space Mining and the Rise of Space Militarisation”. In Sandeepa Bhat and Adithya Variath (eds.), Artemis Accords and Resource Mining in Outer Space (Springer, 2025), pp. 99-114

“Evaluating Compliance with International Standards and Best Practices at the Mumbai Airport”. In Sandeepa Bhat (ed.), Aerodrome Governance in Asia: Legal and Managerial Perspectives (Springer, 2025), pp. 331-348

“Critical Space Infrastructure and Cybersecurity Challenges in Outer Space: A Review of India’s Space Security”. In Hamid Jahankhani and Biju Issac (eds.), Cybersecurity and Human Capabilities Through Symbiotic Artificial Intelligence (Springer, 2025), pp. 1-12

“Protecting Innovation in the Age of Space Commercialisation in India: The Curious Case of Missing Elements of the Indian Space Policy 2023”, (2025) 4 Spanish Journal of Aeronautical and Space Law 209-218.

Book Review: “Benjamyn I. Scott and Andrea Trimarchi, Fundamentals of International Aviation Law and Policy. Routledge. London and New York. 2025. 2nd ed. ISBN 9781032564319, pp. 452”, (2025) German Journal of Air and Space Law 179-184 (Wolters Kluwer)

“A Critical Review of the Guidelines for the Long-Term Sustainability in Outer Space”, (2025) 5(1) Lex ad Coelum 1-10

Sandeepa Bhat, Dilip Ukey, and Adithya Variath (eds.), International Space Law in the New Space Era: Principles and Challenges (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024), pp. 323, https://doi.org/10.1093/9780198909415.001.0001

“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Role of Satellites in Data Collections and Observations”. In Hamid Jahankhani, Stefan Kendzierskyj, Sina Pournouri and Maria A. Pozza (eds.), Space Law Principles and Sustainable Measures (Springer, 2024), pp. 15-31 (with Palak Taori)

“Norms Governing Rescue and Return”. In Sandeepa Bhat, et. al. (eds.), International Space Law in the New Space Era (Oxford University Press, 2024), pp. 86-104

“Aircraft Leasing and Re-Evaluating UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts in a Post-COVID Era”, (2024) 23(3) Issues in Aviation Law and Policy (Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development, DePaul University, USA)

“Artemis Accords, Space Economy and Regulation of Anti-satellite Weapons”, (2024) 59(22) Economic and Political Weekly 22-24

“Space Economy and the Geopolitics of South Asia’s Space Security Trilemma”, (2024) 113(2) The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs (Taylor & Francis)

“Time for an Indian National Space Security Policy?”, (2024) 4(1) Lex ad Coelum 36-40
Email adithya.variath@jgu.edu.in
ORCID ID 0000-0001-7693-1010
Key Expertise Space Law, Aviation Law, Public International Law
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