The release of the first images taken by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope will inspire generations with the infinite possibilities that outer space holds. Clearly, we have a responsibility to ensure that only peaceful, safe, sustainable, lawful and legitimate uses of space are undertaken for the benefit of humanity and future generations.

In pursuit of this, over the past six years McGill University and a host of collaborating institutions around the world have been involved in the drafting of the McGill Manual on International Law Applicable to Military Uses of Outer Space.

In August, the first volume of the McGill Manual was published. It contains the 52 Rules, adopted by consensus by the group of experts. The rules clarify the international law applicable to all space activities conducted during peacetime and in times of tension that pose challenges to peace.

Growth of space infrastructure

Since the beginning of the Space Age 65 years ago, we have witnessed tremendous strides in space exploration that have benefited life on Earth.

Researchers report an experimental demonstration of a space-to-ground quantum key distribution (QKD) network using a compact QKD terminal aboard the Chinese Space Lab Tiangong-2 and four ground stations. The new QKD system is less than half the weight of the system the researchers developed for the Micius satellite, which was used to perform the world's first quantum-encrypted virtual teleconference.

The demonstration represents an important step toward practical QKD based on constellations of small satellites, a setup considered one of the most promising routes to creating a global quantum communication network.

NASA's twin Voyager probes have become, in some ways, time capsules of their era: They each carry an eight-track tape player for recording data, they have about 3 million times less memory than modern cellphones, and they transmit data about 38,000 times slower than a 5G internet connection.

Yet the Voyagers remain on the cutting edge of space exploration. Managed and operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, they are the only probes to ever explore interstellar space—the galactic ocean that our sun and its planets travel through.

The sun and the planets reside in the heliosphere, a protective bubble created by the sun's magnetic field and the outward flow of solar wind (charged particles from the sun).