Session 6 of the IISL Colloquium / 38th IAA/IISL Scientific Legal Roundtable at IAC 2024 successfully held

October 17, 2024 November 8, 2024

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On 17 October, 10:15 h the sixth session of the IISL Colloquium - also 38th IAA/IISL Scientific Legal Roundtable - was held at the Milan International Convention Centre MICO. The topic of the session was entitled: Cyberspace Security in Outer Space: Scientific, Technical and Legal Dimensions of a Dilemma.

Topic description

Outer space and cyberspace are realms opened to human exploration and exploitation through scientific discovery, technological innovation and increasingly, commercial application. Spacecraft operating in near-earth orbital regions or in inter-planetary expanses rely on forms of electronic communication, often referred to as “cyberspace” to carry out their missions. Best practices and usage norms to ensure safe passage through outer space have evolved as direct counterparts to the rules and norms governing use of the radio spectrum and telecommunications technologies to avoid harmful, mission-endangering radio frequency interference. The technological shift to Internet-based telecommunications infrastructures is exposing space-based systems to terrestrial cyber-disruptions that are challenging long-standing technological practices and governance regimes in outer space. On-going earthbound military hostilities employing cyber-disruptions rooted in Internet network architectural vulnerabilities are already disabling or interfering with space-based communications. This IAA-IISL Roundtable will discuss whether scientific/technological trends as well as governance institutions and rules are sufficient to ensure space activities and systems may operate in a setting of cyber-security and not cyber-disruption.

Session Chairs and Rapporteur

The session was co-chaired by Dr. PJ Blount, Cardiff University, United Kingdom; and Ms. Ruth Pritchard-Kelly, Oneweb, United Kingdom. Dr. Nicola Rohner-Willsch, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), Germany; and Dr. Ivan Fino, Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC), Italy; acted as Rapporteurs for the session.