Space policy
Governance beyond Earth, commercial systems as strategic infrastructure, and the international rules shaping access, legitimacy, and cooperation.
Space policy Technology policy National security
Research for hard decisions.Strategy for what’s next.
I’m Noah Royal Milad—a policy researcher and collaborative problem solver interested in how emerging technologies reshape power, security, and public institutions. I turn evidence and conversation into clear choices for complex decisions.
- Domains
- Space · Technology · National security
- Method
- Research · Stakeholder insight · Strategy
- Purpose
- Clear options · Practical recommendations
01Policy for the systems shaping what comes next.
Where I focus
Policy for technologies that redraw the map of power.
I am drawn to the moment when technology becomes a governance and security problem—when leaders need more than description. They need choices, tradeoffs, and a path forward.
Technology policy
How public institutions govern fast-moving and dual-use technologies while preserving accountability, resilience, and public purpose.
National security
Strategic competition, critical infrastructure, crisis decisions, and the coalitions needed to manage risk without losing sight of democratic values.
Who I am
Analytical by training. Relational by instinct.
From Cairo and Maryland’s Eastern Shore to Philadelphia and Washington, I have been drawn to people with different experiences and to the problems no single perspective can solve alone.
At Penn, I studied international relations and political science, developed a research agenda on the governance of outer space, and led organizations dedicated to student voice and belonging. Each experience taught me that the best analysis begins with thoughtful questions—and that trust is part of how good ideas become action.
I am at my best where research, strategy, and relationships meet: clarifying a messy question, hearing what matters to the people involved, connecting evidence across fields, and helping a group see a useful way forward.
Read my Penn profile
Rooted in communityFocused on what comes next.
How I work
Rigorous enough for the problem. Clear enough for a decision.
I approach problems like both a researcher and a collaborator: curious about the evidence, attentive to the people, and focused on what can actually be done next.
Listen & frame
Find the question underneath the question.
Start with conversation. Map who is affected, what they need, where the friction sits, and how success should be defined.
Research & test
Build an evidence base that challenges assumptions.
Compare cases, trace incentives, surface constraints, and test the easy answer before recommending it.
Connect & translate
Turn different perspectives into shared choices.
Bring technical, political, and lived knowledge into the same conversation, then make the tradeoffs clear and actionable.
Recommend & move
Offer a path forward people can use.
Translate the work into practical options, an honest recommendation, and concrete next steps.
What I work on
Work at the edge of policy and power.
Space governance is my deepest area of study—and the foundation for a broader interest in technology policy, strategic infrastructure, national security, and institutional design.
Space policy · Honors thesis
The Fate of the Stars
A comparative study of how legitimate authority can emerge in a domain where territorial sovereignty is prohibited—across China’s state-led model, the Outer Space Treaty, the Artemis Accords, and the International Space Station partnership.
Core idea
Durable space governance will be hybrid: legally legitimate, operationally interdependent, and open to flexible participation.
Project overviewSpace policy · Funded research
Space Governance, Democracy & International Collaboration
Research supported by the Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy, connecting institutional design in space to questions of legitimacy, democratic accountability, and cooperation.
Core idea
The rules built now will shape whether new frontiers reinforce public purpose or deepen geopolitical rivalry.
Andrea Mitchell CenterTechnology policy · National security
Commercial Space as Critical Infrastructure
A developing body of work on the resilience of commercial satellite systems, public-private responsibility during conflict, and the policy gap created by military dependence on private networks.
Core idea
Security policy must clarify both industry obligations and the support government will provide when commercial systems become strategic infrastructure.
Discuss the workWhat I’ve done
Research, leadership, and public voice.
I have built my early career around one principle: institutions matter most when people can see themselves in them.
2026 —
Georgetown University
Incoming M.A. candidate, Democracy & Governance
Advancing a focus on democratic governance with interests spanning space policy, technology policy, and national security institutions.
2022 — 2026
University of Pennsylvania
B.A., International Relations & Political Science
Minor in Modern Middle Eastern Studies. Graduation speaker for the College of Arts & Sciences Class of 2026.
Washington
Penn in Washington
Program Assistant
Supported a bridge between academic inquiry and the people, institutions, and policy debates shaping public life in the capital.
Research
Penn Institute for Urban Research
Fellow in Urban Leadership
Explored policy, institutions, and urban development, with particular attention to the Middle East.
Selected recognition
Ivy Day Student Award of MeritPenn College graduation speakerUniversity Commencement vocalistCharles W. Burr Book PrizeAndrea Mitchell Center research grantMidwest Political Science Association presenter
What I bring to the table
Analytical depth. Human connection. A bias toward action.
I want to contribute wherever a team needs someone who can understand a difficult issue, connect across perspectives, and help turn insight into a decision.
Research & problem framing
Define the real question, organize the evidence, and identify the actors, incentives, risks, and constraints that shape an answer.
Stakeholder conversation
Listen carefully, ask useful questions, and create the conditions for people with different expertise or interests to think together.
Strategy & clear communication
Translate complexity into choices, recommendations, and writing that decision-makers and communities can understand and use.
Let’s connect
Bring me the question you’re trying to solve.
I welcome conversations and collaborations around space governance, technology policy, national security, democratic institutions, and any difficult problem that needs careful research and a human approach.