Lulu Makapela

Early Life

Lulu (Lulekwa) Makapela is a lawyer from South Africa who works in space law. Space law is a set of rules about how people and countries can use outer space. She got her first law degree at the University of Fort Hare in the town of Alice. She became interested in space law because she thought it was exciting and that it "changes every day".

To become an expert, Lulu did a Master's degree in space law at the University of Pretoria. She also did extra training at the International Space University. Finally, she travelled to the USA to study leadership at a college in Arizona.

Career highlights

Lulu has always been active in international space law groups. For example, she coordinated her country's work at the International Institute of Space Law. It is one of the top groups in the world helping to make rules for how governments and companies can use space. It also supports people around the world to work together in space.

Lulu also worked for the South African Council for Space Affairs, developing the country's space law. One of the things she cares about is making sure South African law is suited to modern space problems. For example, there are now a lot of satellites in orbit around Earth. A lot of them are small and difficult to track from Earth. Some old satellites have run out of power and form "space junk". So what happens if two satellites crash? Would the government be held responsible? Until recently, only governments had the funds to make and launch satellites, so the law reflected that. But what if a private company were to make the satellite? Or the satellite was no longer in use? Lulu tries to make sure that her country's law is ready for these sorts of issues. Having clear space laws helps make sure that space activities are safe for everyone.

Lulu has worked at the National Earth Observations and Space Secretariat (NEOSS) for a long time. She is now the manager of the whole organisation. NEOSS helps operate South African satellites and ground-based instruments used to study the Earth. The data collected by these can be used to monitor water and air quality, or to track the health of nature. NEOSS shares this data with scientists, companies, and the public. Some of this data is kept private for security reasons. But Lulu champions free and easy access to data for the benefit of everyone.

As a manager, Lulu needs to make sure that the organisation works well and that all projects are done on time. She makes sure everyone knows what their job is and helps solve problems if they appear. She also needs to work with lots of people with different goals. For example, people who want to use the data that NEOSS gathers might want to do other research, like using the satellites to look at the coast or to research the forests. Or they could want to focus on the same place but need different kinds of data. Lulu needs to make sure the work that NEOSS does is helpful for all types of science.

Legacy

Lulu is a leader in space law both in South Africa and around the world.

She believes strongly in human and civil rights and keeps those values in mind during her work. She also wants to help the next generation of lawyers and scientists. She encourages students to go into space law. When she was younger, she joined youth panels to develop space laws. Now, she helps create similar chances for young people to get experience and learn space law.