session 4

Title

Application of space law to cyber activities

Description

It is difficult to overstate the reach of cybertechnologies, which have become embedded in the everyday life of developed and developing countries alike. Space is no exception to the reach of these technologies. This session will investigate the legal issues that arise from the various aspects of the intersection of space activities and cyberspace. Some questions to be discussed are: When do cyber activities relate to space systems (manned and non-manned) in a way that they can be considered as space activities under the space treaties? Are unauthorized cyber activities [e.g., interference], such as the hacking of flight or payload controls of a space object, space activities? Can an unauthorized cyber activity [e.g., interference] to databases on the ground that hold data or provide conjunction assessment be considered a space activity under the space treaties? How responsibility and liability under the space treaties are applicable? Can a cyber activity be legally considered as an ‘attack’? Which scenarios would fall under the term ‘attack’ and which do not?

IPC members

• Co-Chair: Dr. PJ Blount, Cardiff University, United Kingdom;

• Co-Chair: Dr. Martha Mejia-Kaiser, International Institute of Space Law (IISL), Germany;

• Rapporteur: Dr. Rada Popova, Isar Aerospace Technologies GmbH, Germany;