Dr. Susmita Mohanty in conversation with Juan Francisco Salazar, joining from Sydney, about socio-technical imaginaries, media anthropology, cultural responses, social studies, ethics, ecology in the context of Outer Space, and analogue extreme environments here on Earth - such as Antarctica and Atacama.

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Biography: Juan Francisco Salazar

Juan Francisco Salazar is Director (Interim) of the Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University in Australia where is Professor of Media and Environment and past Australian Research Council Future Fellow (2020-2024). He holds a PhD in Communication and Media from Western Sydney University and a Bachelor’s in Anthropology from the University of Chile.

Juan’s latest books are the co-edited collection Routledge Handbook of Social Studies of Outer Space (Routledge 2023); the co-authored book Antarctic Cities: From Gateways to Global Custodians (University of Nebraska Press, 2026) and the authored book Space Futures Otherwise (forthcoming with Routledge). Juan’s latest film is Cosmographies (2025) a collaboration with artist Victoria Hunt and produced in collaboration with the Indigenous Lickanantay Community of Toconao in Chile. 
Available at RAI Film: https://raifilm.org.uk/films/cosmographies/. 

Recorded on 18 February 2026
Published on 28 March 2026

A conversation with Victoria Samson, joining from Washington DC, about Space Security and Sustainability, US Golden Dome missile defence, Nuclear weapons and arms control, Counterspace tech and the future of space warfare.

Biography: Victoria Samson

Victoria Samson is the Chief Director, Space Security and Stability for Secure World Foundation and has over twenty-five years of experience in military space and security issues.

Before joining SWF, Ms. Samson served as a Senior Analyst for the Center for Defense Information (CDI), where she leveraged her expertise in missile defense, nuclear reductions, and space security issues to conduct in-depth analysis and media commentary. Prior to her time at CDI, Ms. Samson was the Senior Policy Associate at the Coalition to Reduce Nuclear Dangers, a consortium of arms control groups in the Washington, D.C. area, where she worked with Congressional staffers, members of the media, embassy officials, citizens, and think-tanks on issues related to ballistic missile defense and nuclear weapons reduction. Before that, she was a researcher at Riverside Research Institute, where she worked on war-gaming scenarios for the Missile Defense Agency's Directorate of Intelligence.

Ms. Samson holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in political science with a specialization in international relations from UCLA and a Master of Arts (M.A.) in international relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

A conversation with Dr. Arup R. Dasgupta about the impact of US sanctions and ITAR on India’s space program,  India’s focus on socio-economic development, India’s policy of non-alignment and strategic autonomy, ISRO’s cooperation with NASA, CNES, DLR, ESA and JAXA.

Biography: Dr. Arup R. Dasgupta

Mr. Dasgupta, retired from Indian Space Research Organisation as a Deputy Director, Satellite Communications and IT Applications Area of Space Applications Centre. Currently he is the Advisor, Geospatial Knowledge Infrastructure in Geospatial World and an independent consultant. He has significant and original contributions in convergence of information and communications technologies in the area of geospatial systems and applications. 

His current interests are Space Policy and convergence of space and information technologies for sustainable development of planet earth. 

He is a recipient of the National Geomatics Award for Excellence for the year 2016 from the Indian Society of Geomatics, the Geospatial Lifetime Achievement Award in Geospatial Technologies for 2009, the National Geospatial Award for Excellence for 2005 from the Indian Society of Remote Sensing and the Astronautical Society of India Award for Space Science and Applications for the year 2000. 

He is a Fellow of the Indian Society of Geomatics (ISG) and the IETE, India. He is a Life Senior Member of the IEEE USA and a member of several professional societies.

Prof Dasgupta is a M.E. in Electrical Communications Engineering from the IISc, Bangalore, India and has worked in the Space Applications Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Government of India, from November 1970 to March 2005.

http://in.linkedin.com/in/arupdasgupta

Recorded on 31 July 2025

A conversation with Prof. Steven Freeland about the relevance/obsolescence of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, the 1979 Moon Agreement, space resources, competing legal regimes, rules-based governance, geopolitical rivalry and lunar futures. 

Biography: Steven Freeland

Steven Freeland is Emeritus Professor of International Law at Western Sydney University, and Professorial Fellow at Bond University. He also holds Adjunct positions at various other Universities/Institutes in Copenhagen, Vienna, Toulouse, Hong Kong, Montreal, Kuala Lumpur, Vancouver, Mumbai and London. 

Prior to becoming an academic, he had a 20-year career as an international commercial lawyer and an investment banker. 

He was a Member of the Australian Space Agency Advisory Board (2020-2024) and has been an advisor to many Governments on issues relating to national space legislative frameworks and policy. He represents the Australian Government at UNCOPUOS meetings and is Chair of a 5-year ‘Working Group on Legal Aspects of Space Resource Activities’. 

Among other appointments, he is a co-Principal of specialised space law firm Azimuth Advisory, a Member of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on the Future of Space, a Member of the Abu Dhabi Space Debate Strategy Council, and an Honorary Director of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL).

Recorded on 23 July 2025

A conversation with Ambassador Arun K. Singh about technology as a currency for diplomacy, the evolving contours of the Indo-US partnership and Indo-French tech cooperation. 

Biography: Arun K. Singh

Indian Ambassador to the United States (2015-2016)
Indian Ambassador to France (2013-2015)
Indian Ambassador to Israel (2005-2008)

Ambassador Arun Singh has extensive experience across the globe, including as India’s Ambassador to the United States, Israel, and France. Throughout his distinguished 37-year career in the Indian Foreign Service, Ambassador Singh has served during pivotal periods in key global capitals, and was instrumental in shaping India’s policies, notably the continued progress in the US-India relationship; India’s closer ties to Israel; and the formulation and implementation of India’s policies related to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran, including in the period following 9/11. He was a Member of India’s National Security Advisory Board over 2021-22. 

Ambassador Singh is currently a Senior Counsellor at The Cohen Group, a Visiting Professor at Ashoka University, and a Non- Resident Senior Fellow at Carnegie India.

In the spring of 2017, Ambassador Singh taught courses on US Foreign Policy in South Asia and Current Global Trends and Challenges at American University and the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. He was also a Distinguished Halle Fellow at Emory University, and Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Study of India at the University of Pennsylvania.

Ambassador Singh holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from Delhi University, where he specialized in econometrics, development policy, macroeconomics, and Indian economic history. He taught Economics at St. Stephen’s College of University of Delhi, before joining the Indian Foreign Service in 1979.

Recorded on 18 July 2025

A conversation with Ambassador Rakesh Sood about nuclear technology, non-proliferation, disarmament, export controls and the evolving global threat portfolio. 

Biography: Rakesh Sood

Rakesh Sood joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1976, serving initially in Brussels, Dakar, Geneva, and Islamabad in different capacities, and as Deputy Chief of Mission in Washington, DC. 

Ambassador Sood set up the Disarmament and International Security Affairs Division in the Foreign Ministry and led it for nine years. During this period, he was in charge of multilateral disarmament negotiations (CWC, CTBT, BWC Verification Protocol, CCW), bilateral dialogues with Pakistan, strategic dialogues with countries such as the US, UK, France and Israel (especially after the nuclear tests in 1998), non-proliferation-related export controls and dealt with India’s role in the ASEAN Regional Forum, as part of the ‘Look East’ policy. He has served as India’s first Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva and later as Ambassador to Afghanistan, Nepal and France. 

After retiring in 2013, Ambassador Sood was appointed Special Envoy of the Prime Minister for Disarmament and Non-proliferation, a position he held until May 2014. Since leaving government, he has been writing and speaking on foreign policy, regional and global security related issues at home and abroad. He is currently Distinguished Fellow at the Council for Strategic and Defence Research, a Delhi based think-tank. 

A selection of his writings and interviews may be seen at https://rakeshsood.in/

Recorded on 30 March 2025