Saadia M Pekkanen is Job and Gertrud Tamaki Endowed Professor of International Studies, Adjunct Professor of Political Science, Adjunct Professor of Law, and founding director of the Space Law, Data, and Policy Program (SPACE LDP) at the University of Washington in Seattle. She earned Masters degrees from Columbia University and Yale Law School, and a doctorate from Harvard University in political science. She works at the intersection of international relations and international law, specialising in the commercial, legal and security policies shaping outer space affairs. Her regional expertise is in the foreign affairs of Japan and Asia, engaging broader themes of states, industrial policy, strategy and grand strategy, alliances, and governance in the world order. Along with books and monographs reflecting these themes, she has also published articles in venues such as the American Journal of International Law Unbound, International Studies Quarterly and International Security. She is most recently co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Space Security (2024). She is a member of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL) and a lifetime member of the Council of Foreign Relations (CFR).