NEWS

On Tuesday 11 July, the European Space Agency (ESA) opened the doors of its new UK conference centre at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus. ESA is a strong supporter of innovation in Europe, and Darwin was pleased to attend the event as one of the organisations driving technology forward with ESA’s help. The Magali Vaissiere Conference Centre forms a new part of ESA’s European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT), already established at Harwell. It will serve as a base for collaboration and innovation across the UK space sector. The building itself is a monument to collaboration, having been built with the help of funding from the UK Space Agency (UKSA). Darwin was joined at the event by colleagues from Cognizant and Virgin Media O2, who, like ESA and UKSA, are longstanding supporters of Darwin’s work. ESA’s conference centre will be a new stop on the Darwin Autonomous Shuttle’s route. The Darwin Autonomous Shuttle is a self-driving transportation service that has been carrying passengers around Harwell Campus since late 2021, making it the longest-running autonomous public transport service in the UK. This service was made possible by the support of many organisations, including ESA, UKSA, Virgin Media O2, Cognizant, Aviva, Hispasat, Harwell Campus and STFC. Darwin’s co-founder Daniela Petrovic was present at the event and was impressed by the new building. ‘It was great to meet with colleagues and hear ESA’s plans for future moon and Mars missions,’ she said. Take a look at our photographs from the event below, featuring the Darwin Autonomous Shuttle: Darwin Innovation Group is a UK-based company that provides services related to autonomous vehicles and communications. If you’re interested in working with us, take a look at our careers page. If you’d like to know how we can help your organisation make use of autonomous vehicles, contact us. You can also follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter.

The European Space Agency’s Space2Connect Conference is an annual opportunity to explore the opportunities and challenges surrounding satellite telecommunications, and Darwin’s co-founder Daniela Petrovic was delighted to be invited this year as a guest speaker. The conference took place from 7 to 9 June 2023 in the ancient and beautiful Italian city of Matera, home to the Italian Space Agency’s centre of operations. Satellite communications play a central role in Darwin’s work. Our ubiquitous communications technology harnesses both satellite and terrestrial telecommunications to keep vehicles connected to the internet while travelling, even in areas that have patchy 4G or 5G coverage. Many of Darwin’s achievements were made possible by our partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA). The conference included interesting discussions from all corners of the satellite communications industry. One major focus of the Space2Connect conference was sustainability: how space-based technology can support sustainability efforts on Earth, and how organisations can use space responsibly, minimising issues such as space debris. On the second day of the conference, Darwin took part in the round table discussion ‘Space for a Green Transition and Resilience to Climate Impact’, where Daniela and other industry experts talked about the role of space in sustainability and disaster management. Points that were raised in the discussion included: While there’s plenty of public awareness about the greenhouse gas emissions of certain industries, such as transportation and electricity production, there are less discussed areas that nonetheless contribute significantly to climate change. For example, agriculture, wastewater treatment and manufacturing all produce significant greenhouse gas emissions. Improvements that reduce greenhouse gas emissions across an industry can make a real difference, particularly in these high-emission industries. In many cases, it’s already possible to make changes that can reduce emissions. For example, governments can encourage the use of low-emission modes of transport such as cycling or public transport, or can create incentives to switch from petrol-powered cars to electric vehicles. However, it’s also worth investing in alternative options such as better fuels, as a lack of funds or infrastructure may prevent some from making fundamental changes to the way they travel. It’s also important to consider where there’s still room for improvement. For example, the emissions of electric vehicles could be further reduced by generating more electricity using clean methods, or by researching low-emission materials that could be used in vehicle construction, as the manufacturing of steel and plastic creates greenhouse gases in large quantities. Darwin is helping with its work on autonomous public transport services. Self-driving vehicles have sustainability advantages over traditional vehicles and can help to fill in gaps in public transportation, reducing reliance on single-occupant cars. We’ve also published articles to increase awareness of the capabilities and efficient use of electric vehicles; take a look at our articles on long-distance driving in an electric car or how to make your car battery last longer. You can see a few photographs from Daniela’s visit below: Darwin Innovation Group is a UK-based company that provides services related to autonomous vehicles and communications. If you’re interested in working with us, take a look at our careers page. If you’d like to know how we can help your organisation make use of autonomous vehicles, contact us. You can also follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Artificial intelligence is an exciting and rapidly developing field, and Darwin’s work with autonomous vehicles means we have a particular interest in AI developments. We also make use of AI for image and text analysis at Darwin. Earlier this month, Darwin’s co-founder Daniela Petrovic and VP of sales Adnan Salkic attended the AI Summit London. The summit was held on 14 and 15 June at Wapping’s Tobacco Dock. We were honoured to attend the summit as guests of the High Commission of Canada in the UK. The country of Canada has played a huge role in shaping machine learning, with the work of pioneers such as Geoffrey Hinton, Yoshua Bengio and Richard Sutton helping to form the backbone of modern AI. Canada has three national AI institutes and was the first country to implement a national AI strategy. The AI Summit London is an annual opportunity to learn about the direction of artificial intelligence, connect with other organisations in the industry and explore how AI is bringing practical benefits to real people today. It’s part of London Tech Week, a global celebration of technology held with the support of the UK government. By bringing together organisations with the ability to support each other, events like AI summits can help to push technology forward, creating benefits for everyone. Daniela and Adnan took the opportunity to learn, make connections and present Darwin’s solution to interested organisations. ‘We found the ideas at the summit hugely interesting,’ Daniela said. ‘We compared our research into satellite imaging aimed at insurance modelling with what IBM presented at the summit, and we found many common areas of opportunity and challenges. We also particularly liked how Spotify uses AI to suggest personality traits based on the music a person listens to.’ Take a look at some of our photographs from the summit below: Darwin Innovation Group is a UK-based company that provides services related to autonomous vehicles and communications. If you’re interested in working with us, take a look at our careers page. If you’d like to know how we can help your organisation make use of autonomous vehicles, contact us. You can also follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter.

According to international law, no nation can own outer space. This raises questions about criminal jurisdiction. If someone commits a crime in space, who prosecutes? Is it possible to commit crime in space at all, or is everything legal beyond Earth’s boundaries? What happens if someone commits a crime on the ISS? At the moment, if a crime is committed in space, it’s likely to be aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Of course, that’s not because the astronauts on the ISS are particularly inclined to crime; it’s just that the ISS is one of only two permanently crewed objects in space, the other being the Chinese space station Tiangong. It would be much harder for crimes to take place on Jupiter, where there’s nobody to commit them. The laws of the ISS are defined by the International Space Station Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA), a treaty signed on 29 January 1998 by the nations involved in the ISS project. Article 22, which deals with criminal jurisdiction, lays out the following rules: Nations have jurisdiction over their nationals. For example, if a US citizen is accused of a crime aboard the ISS, the US justice system will deal with the accusation, unless other nations are involved; see below. If an ISS astronaut from one country harms a person from another country, the victim’s country can consult with the perpetrator’s country about how prosecution should be handled. If the perpetrator’s country agrees, the victim’s country can take over jurisdiction. The victim’s country can also handle the case if, 90 days after the consultation, the perpetrator’s country hasn’t provided assurance that it will handle prosecution. For example, if a British astronaut hits a Canadian astronaut, the case may be handled by either the UK or, if the UK and Canada agree, by Canada. Canada can also handle the case if the UK takes too long to express its intention to prosecute. If an incident happens in (or damages) a module owned by another nation, the module’s owner state can, again, consult with the perpetrator’s country on prosecution, and can take over prosecution under the same circumstances as point 2. So, if the British astronaut punches the Canadian astronaut in a Russian section of the ISS, Russia may also be able to prosecute. In other words, it’s absolutely possible to prosecute a crime committed aboard the ISS, and it can be prosecuted by a number of different parties: the perpetrator’s country, the victim’s country (if there’s a victim), or the country that owns the part of the ISS in which the crime took place. Different parts of the ISS are governed by the law of the country that owns that part of the ISS. For example, Japanese law reigns in the Japanese Experiment Module. In addition, astronauts are bound by the laws of their own country, so a British astronaut in the Japanese Experiment Module should follow both UK and Japanese law. What happens if someone commits a crime on a spaceship? What are the laws if you’re on a rocket or spaceship, rather than on the ISS? Article 8 of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty is relevant here: A State Party to the Treaty on whose registry an object launched into outer space is carried shall retain jurisdiction and control over such object, and over any personnel thereof, while in outer space or on a celestial body. This is similar to the legal situation in international waters, also known as the high seas. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea dictates that ‘No state may validly purport to subject any part of the high seas to its sovereignty’, much like the Outer Space Treaty’s declaration that no nation can own any part of outer space. However, seafaring ships are subject to the laws of the nation where the ship is registered, so you can’t freely violate British law if you’re on a UK-registered ship in international waters. The Outer Space Treaty’s stipulation that states retain jurisdiction over anything launched while registered with that state, and over any personnel aboard, suggests that space law operates in the same way. If you’re aboard a UK-registered rocket when it’s launched into space, you’re expected to abide by UK law, and the UK can prosecute you if you attempt any space crimes. What happens if someone commits a crime on the moon? What if an astronaut commits a crime on the moon, or in the void of space? That raises some more complicated questions. Legally, no nation can own the moon or outer space. The moon is not part of Spain, for example, so Spain has no right to apply Spanish law to everyone who walks on the moon. However, the doesn’t mean that people on the moon are completely unbound by law. By claiming extraterritorial jurisdiction, nations can impose laws on their nationals outside the nation’s borders. So Spain could claim the right to prosecute a Spanish person who broke Spanish law on the moon. Nations can also claim the right to prosecute crimes committed against their nationals beyond their territory. The US criminal code specifies that the jurisdiction of the United States extends to ‘Any place outside the jurisdiction of any nation with respect to an offense by or against a national of the United States’, so a stateless person on the moon could still be prosecuted for harming a US astronaut. While you could probably get into trouble for moon crimes regardless of your nationality, Canada has removed any ambiguity for its astronauts. An amendment to Canada’s Civil Lunar Gateway Agreement Implementation Act specifically states that Canadian astronauts can be prosecuted for violating Canadian law on the moon: a Canadian crew member who, during a space flight, commits an act or omission outside Canada that if committed in Canada would constitute an indictable offence is deemed to have committed that act or omission in Canada, if that act or omission is committed ... on the surface of the Moon. Like outer space, Antarctica is not owned by any one nation and has no permanent residents. The 1959 Antarctic Treaty specifies that nations have jurisdiction over their own nationals if a crime is committed in Antarctica, and it’s possible we’ll eventually see a similar provision written into international space law. Has anyone committed a crime in space? Eventually, we’ll probably see a practical test of how criminal law works in space. For now, though, the title of ‘first space criminal’ hasn’t yet been claimed. In 2019, a NASA astronaut faced an allegation that she had improperly accessed her former spouse’s bank account from the International Space Station. However, an investigation cleared the astronaut of wrongdoing. Both the astronaut and her former spouse were American, and the alleged crime took place in an American part of the ISS, so, if the case had gone to trial, it would have been the responsibility of the US courts. When crime eventually makes its way into space, it’ll present some interesting challenges for the legal system. Even if a crime in space can theoretically be prosecuted, it may be difficult to investigate. At the moment, getting into space is extremely expensive and can’t be done at short notice, which means that professional investigators probably won’t be flying to space-based crime scenes any time soon. Darwin Innovation Group is a UK-based company that provides services related to autonomous vehicles and communications. If you’re interested in working with us, take a look at our careers page. If you’d like to know how we can help your organisation make use of autonomous vehicles, contact us. You can also follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter.

We’ve talked a bit about the importance of operating responsibly in space: for example, disposing of satellites so they don’t end up contributing to the space debris problem. Is there any way to legally enforce responsible operation, though? Does anyone own space and have the ability to impose regulations on it? In other words, are there laws in space? Who owns space? Nobody owns the moon, the stars or outer space in general. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which has been agreed to by over a hundred nations, specifically forbids any nation from laying claim to outer space: ‘Outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.’ We’ll look at this treaty in more detail shortly. Although some companies claim to sell plots of land on the moon, nobody owns the land to sell it. Some have tried to argue that, although nations are barred from owning the moon, that doesn’t necessarily prevent individuals or corporations from owning it. If you make it to the moon, though, you’re unlikely to find that your moon deed is legally recognised. To look at it from a different perspective, everyone owns the moon. The Outer Space Treaty declares the exploration and use of outer space the ‘province of all mankind’, so nobody has the right to take private possession of part of the moon, thus excluding everyone else. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty As no one nation owns outer space, no nation can impose its laws on it. Because of this, the rules that govern space are formed by agreement between nations, which is why treaties are crucial for space law. The Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, more concisely known as the Outer Space Treaty, first came into effect on 10 October 1967. This treaty laid the foundations of the laws of space. Royal Museums Greenwich offers a comparison to bring home how sparsely regulated space is, in comparison to Earth-based concerns: [The Outer Space Treaty] is just 17 short articles in length. By comparison, the International Law of the Sea Treaty – the set of rules governing the use of the world’s oceans – contains over 300 articles. Articles 13 to 17 of the Outer Space Treaty are about the treaty itself, so the first 12 articles are the important ones if you want to know the rules of space. Here’s a quick summary of those articles. Space is open to all. Outer space should be explored and used for the benefit of everyone. As mentioned, the exploration and use of space is the ‘province of all mankind’, and all states should have equal freedom to participate. Nobody owns space. No nation can lay claim to outer space or any celestial bodies. International law governs in space. States should carry out their exploration and use of outer space in accordance with international law: abiding by treaties, for example. Space is a peaceful place. Celestial bodies, such as the moon, can only be used for peaceful purposes. States are forbidden from installing weapons of mass destruction in space, and cannot test weapons or establish military bases on celestial bodies. Astronauts should be protected. States are to aid astronauts in distress, and to alert other states if they discover anything in space that could endanger astronauts. The 1968 Rescue Agreement would expand on this. Nations are responsible for their actions in space. Whether space-based actions are carried out by the government or by private organisations, that government or organisation’s state is responsible for making sure those actions comply with the Outer Space Treaty. Anything you launch is your responsibility. States are liable for damages caused to other states by anything they launch into space. The 1972 Liability Convention would expand on this. Anything you launch is your property. States retain the ownership of anything they launch into space. In other words, although nobody can own outer space, that doesn’t mean you’ll cease to own something you put into outer space. Respect your neighbours and the environment. States should bear the interests of other states in mind while exploring or making use of outer space. They should avoid ‘harmful contamination’ of celestial bodies or of the Earth in the process of their space exploration. Your neighbours should be able to monitor what you launch into space. States can request to observe the flight of objects launched by other states. Be clear about what you’re doing in space. Wherever feasible, states should inform the public, the scientific community and the Secretary-General of the United Nations about their actions in space. Welcome your neighbours to your space stations. States can request to visit other states’ space stations or their installations on celestial bodies. Other space treaties The use of space is largely governed by four international treaties. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 is the most significant one, but we’ll take a quick look here at the other three: The 1968 Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts and the Return of Objects Launched into Outer Space, also known as the Rescue Agreement. Under the terms of this agreement, states agree to help astronauts in distress in any way they can, and (if requested) to return objects that land in their territory after being launched into space by another state. The 1972 Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects, also known as the Liability Convention. This expands on the idea that states are responsible for damages caused by anything they launch into space. The 1975 Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space, also known as the Registration Convention. This requires states to register the details of anything they launch into space with the United Nations. In theory, there’s a fifth treaty: the 1979 Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, also known as the Moon Agreement, which attempts to set out rules for the use of the moon and its resources. As most spacefaring nations haven’t ratified the Moon Agreement, though, it doesn’t have the same impact on space law as its more widely accepted predecessors. The gaps in space law At the moment, space is sparsely and vaguely regulated. There are some points on which it could be worth clarifying the rules. For example, you may have noticed that none of these treaties specifically set out rules for satellite disposal, which is important for keeping space debris under control. There are a couple of ways in which existing space law might help to mitigate space debris, but there’s no article that forbids unnecessarily allowing space debris to be created. The Liability Convention, which holds states liable for damages caused by their own satellites, creates an incentive for governments to order that satellites must be disposed of responsibly. After all, if a state creates space debris by neglecting or destroying a satellite, they will then need to pay for any damage that the debris inflicts on other satellites. However, there’s still a chance a state might act recklessly, in spite of the risk that they might have to pay damages. Article 9 of the Outer Space Treaty, meanwhile, dictates that states should act with due regard to other states’ interests. Unnecessarily creating space debris could be considered a violation of this article, as space debris makes the use of space more difficult for everyone. However, the lack of specificity here means that different states may interpret this article differently. For example, after Russia destroyed one of its own satellites in a missile test in November 2021, creating a large amount of space debris, Russia’s foreign ministry claimed that the test had been carried out ‘in strict conformity with international law, including the 1967 Outer Space Treaty’. In 2008, the European Union attempted to create a code of conduct for outer space, which required countries to limit any activities that might create space debris. However, the International Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities was never adopted. Perhaps it’s time for another treaty: one that explicitly forbids unnecessarily destroying a satellite in orbit, or launching a satellite without a responsible disposal plan in place. Something else you may have noticed is the fact that these treaties don’t address crime by individuals. In a future article, we’ll take a closer look at what happens when an astronaut commits a crime in space. Darwin Innovation Group is a UK-based company that provides services related to autonomous vehicles and communications. If you’re interested in working with us, take a look at our careers page. If you’d like to know how we can help your organisation make use of autonomous vehicles, contact us. You can also follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter.