World Space Week: Can you commit a crime in space?

Space... above the atmosphere, are you above the law?

Can you commit a crime in outer space?

We'll show you how the law is truly international when you're in orbit.

How were the first space laws set up?

And as space travel becomes more and more accessible,

can the law keep space safe?

You might be surprised to learn that they are actually laws in space.

It got started in the 1960s.

America and Soviet Russia were rivals on Earth.

They were also competing in space.

To keep things peaceful, they – and the United Kingdom –

signed the Outer Space Treaty in 1967,

the foundation of all international space law.

It says, amongst other things, that space belongs to everyone,

that space exploration should be for the good of all.

It was an attempt to stop war breaking out.

It also bans nuclear weapons in space.

After that, more agreements followed,

saying how to protect the environment here on Earth and in space,

how to deal with damage in space and even how to rescue astronauts.

But as more countries, and even companies,

are trying to get into space,

can space law change quickly enough?

To tell us how this treaty was formed,

here's space lawyer Jessica Noble:

We were beginning to... to see the effects that...

that things like colonialism and exploitation

had on the rest of the world,

and so I believe that countries took a look at

the Outer Space Treaty and what they wanted

for this exploration into a new realm,

and wanted this to be an area for peaceful purposes

and that would be accessible to all countries,

regardless of their level of sophistication,

regardless of their...

their economic levels.

This really was to be a free space for everyone.

The Outer Space Treaty reflected

the colonial past of some of the countries.

It was meant to make space available for all.

The Outer Space Treaty came about

at a time period in history

when countries were trying to avoid

any escalation in nuclear activity.

The countries of the world wanted to stop short

of nuclear testing

or placing nuclear weapons in space,

and so it was a bit of a miracle

that you had these countries come together in 1967

to... to collectively say,

'No, we will not continue with nuclear testing in space

or placing nuclear weapons in space.'

They understood the gravity of... of the situation

and came together to say, as... as humanity –

we don't want this for space exploration.

And they carved space out as a...

a special place for all countries to explore

and to... to use outer space.

The Outer Space Treaty was partly designed

to stop nuclear weapons in space,

because of conflicts when it was written.

What happens if someone breaks the treaty?

If someone broke the treaty, there are provisions within it to...

to be able to allow a country

to bring a claim against another country

in the International Court of Justice.

And in terms of individuals, has anyone broken the law in space?

To date, no one has had a criminal case

brought against them for having...

for breaking the law in space – not to my knowledge.

If a country breaks the law in space,

  the International Court of Justice would handle some cases.

No one has broken the law in space so far.

So, space law was designed to stop nuclear war

and make sure that space is truly for all nations.

But what about the future?

Much of space law only talks about countries.

But, as companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic

start to grow, what about the future of space travel?

Does the law needs to change?

The asteroid belt is potentially full of valuable metals,

worth trillions and trillions of dollars.

What's to stop a company doing what it wants to get that wealth?

And what about traffic? The more things that are in orbit,

the more likely they'll hit each other.

So, how can laws designed for countries affect companies?

Here's commercial space lawyer Deepika Jayakodi.

The countries where they come from,

or the countries where the companies are registered,

have a responsibility under international space law

to supervise and authorise the activities of their nationals.

So, in this way international law is flown down through the country

to individuals and private companies.

Countries must supervise and authorise

the activities of their nationals in space,

so they apply international laws to their companies.

Would these laws ever just apply to companies directly?

The responsibility will always be on a country to...

to regulate how their private companies work.

Just to give you an example,

when you are talking about space tourism –

sending private people to space –

the responsibility is on the countries to determine

how they will authorise passenger protection,

damages and so on.

A country is always responsible for making private companies

follow the laws of that country,

even if that company is in space.

Law normally develops from things that have happened before;

this is hard in space.

How do lawmakers make space laws?

So, space lawyers look at the technology –

what the technology is meant to do,

how people benefit from it –

and they go on to set up the boundaries.

So, they don't go into the specifics; they set up the boundaries,

within which we can enable this technology,

carry on the space activity

and get some use from it.

Space law is constantly evolving in that manner.

Lawmakers look at how technology is developing

and what laws are required.

There is an increasing amount of space traffic:

does that need an increasing number of laws?

There is an increasing amount of discussions on the laws,

in order to accommodate these...

these new activities in space.

Lawyers and regulators are thinking about:

how should the law change?

How do we make sure different interests are balanced?

And how do we make sure that these activities can continue

over a long period of time?

The law is always changing

to make sure new activities in space are done fairly,

and can go on into the future.

We have seen how space law came from a desire

to ensure access to space for all.

And, as more and more people go into space,

international law will always be working

to keep those ideals alive.