Rapidly evolving technology and space debris reported in several places around the world—including pieces of a Chinese Long March 5B Rocket in the Indian Ocean—signal the need for a new era for regulation of space, Flinders University experts say.

Their timely new report is calling on governments to pay more attention to the use of low-Earth orbit as space laws and technologies race ahead at high speed.

Ahead of a meeting of intergovernmental experts at next year's World Radio Conference, the space experts from the Flinders University's Jeff Bleich Centre are raising concerns on several fronts, commencing with the takeoff of commercial interest in satellite "mega-constellations" in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO).

"While there are laws that cover space activities, they are already under stress because of the speed at which the commercial space industry is evolving," says research associate in space law Joel Lisk, from the Jeff Bleich Centre at Flinders University's College of Business, Government and Law.

"There is a need to work towards ensuring that we have broad and flexible regulatory settings that are geared to rapid change and future developments.

In a recent study published in the Journal of High Energy Physics, two researchers from Brown University demonstrated how data from past missions to Jupiter can help scientists examine dark matter, one of the most mysterious phenomena in the universe. The reason past Jupiter missions were chosen is due to the extensive amount of data gathered about the largest planet in the solar system, most notably from the Galileo and Juno orbiters. The elusive nature and composition of dark matter continues to elude scientists, both figuratively and literally, because it does not emit any light.

ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti was launched to the International Space Station on 27 April as a part of Crew-4 for her second mission, Minerva. One hundred days in, mission Minerva is still going strong. From completing cutting-edge research in the world's only orbiting laboratory to sharing daily life on the Space Station via TikTok, it's all in a day's work for an ESA astronaut.

Inspired by the Roman goddess of wisdom, the handicrafts and the arts, the name Minerva is a homage to the competence and sophisticated craftmanship of the women and men all over the world who make human spaceflight possible. It also embodies the toughness and discipline that is required of us, and the wisdom we wish to demonstrate, as we consolidate and expand human presence in space. All these qualities and more have been on display during these first 100 days of the mission.

Making strides in health

Throughout mission Minerva, Samantha has played a vital role in a large number of scientific experiments on the Space Station, both from European states and international partners.

Although this pure gold pin is not much bigger than the tip of a pencil, it is the "pulsing heart" of ESA's Low Earth Orbit Facility, LEOX. Part of the Agency's Materials and Electrical Components Laboratory, based at ESA's ESTEC technical center in the Netherlands, this test facility is vital for developing materials capable of withstanding the highly-erosive individual oxygen atoms prevailing at the top of the atmosphere, the result of standard oxygen molecules of the same kind found just above the ground being broken apart by powerful ultraviolet radiation from the sun.