Satellites for the Dataverse and the Metaverse

One giant leap for mankind is taking shape through the convergence of real and virtual worlds, powered by 5G connectivity, technologies such as AI and distributed ledger technology/blockchain, and data.

The metaverse – which can be described as a world beyond our own physical world, where people exist in a virtual space through avatars, access it through extended Reality (XR), or in more traditional ways, through computers, game consoles, and smartphones – is emerging as the next frontier for human life. Either as digital twins or as original virtual realities, the metaverse has the potential to fundamentally alter human experience, including at a social and industrial level.

While an interoperable and interconnected metaverse that exists in parallel with the traditional world is still in the works, metaversal environments and digital twins are being developed already in the space sector. For instance, in the U.S., NASA aims to develop virtual environments to simulate Mars for research, development and testing purposes. The EU, in its turn, is developing a digital twin of the Earth to help visualize, monitor and forecast natural and human activity on the planet – Destination Earth (DestinE). The creation of XR environments that simulate real-life environments, processes, entities and industrial operations, is thus set to play an important role in space activities, including for training, space operations (e.g., satellite manufacturing, in-orbit servicing) and policy decision-making.

In all cases, a set of legal issues will have to be looked at when dealing with the metaverse – from the processing of personal data with a view to ensuring the lawful collection, storage, usage, sharing and international transfer of data, especially since biometric data of users may be collected, to intellectual property, cybersecurity, and liability for damages.

In addition, metaversal ecosystems, where space virtual assets are minted and exchanged, can be developed. From natively digital assets to representations of underlying assets, a virtual economy where non-fungible tokens (NFT) of space assets are created and traded (such as satellites, spacecraft, space resources, EO data, frequencies and orbital slots) can be envisioned, taking advantage of blockchain features and allowing faster transactions, more transparency and security.

In this respect, the creation and sale of virtual assets may be subject to legal provisions on issuance of crypto-assets (in the EU, to be addressed in the future Regulation on Markets in Crypto-assets – MiCA). But, especially relevant for the satellite sector, is the issue of ownership of virtual space objects. For natively virtual assets, a concept of ownership like intellectual property is increasingly applied using distributed ledger/blockchain, where “ownership” of digital items/tokens is proven through certificates of ownership and NFTs can thus be “owned” and sold or licensed. To the extent the virtual asset is a digital twin of a physical asset like a satellite, the main issue relates with assessing whether ownership of the token proves or affects the ownership of the underlying asset, and whether trade of tokenized space assets through blockchain-based contracts is possible under the relevant applicable law.

But, to make it all possible, connectivity and data are essential – and satellite systems can play a relevant role here.

Networks need to respond to the needs of virtual environments and immersive experiences, with higher bandwidth and lower latency. Broader coverage is also indispensable if the benefits of virtual distributed environments are to be enjoyed by as many people and entities as possible. In the EU, for instance, space-based connectivity is acknowledged as a strategic asset. An EU space-based system is to be developed to ensure not only availability of satcom services for public purposes such as the protection of critical infrastructures, surveillance, external actions, and crisis management, but also for the provision of commercial services by the private sector that can enable access to fast connections across Europe, including in dead zones.

The proposal for a Regulation establishing the Union Secure Connectivity Programme for the period 2023-2027, published in February 2022, establishes, among others, that the Programme aims to improve the resilience of the Union communication services by developing, building and operating a multi-orbital connectivity infrastructure; and to allow further development of high-speed broadband and seamless connectivity throughout the Union. The system will support, among others, edge computing, IoT, autonomous driving, e-health, smart agriculture, in-flight and maritime connectivity.

Naturally, connectivity and network infrastructure challenges will need to be further tackled to respond to immersive environments. The private sector, together with policy-makers, will thus need to further collaborate to make it happen. In addition, because chips are the building blocks of electronic products including when it comes to connectivity, the proposed EU Chips Act, also published in February 2022, aims to ensure the EU’s security of supply in semiconductor technologies and applications. The EU approach will play an important role in mitigating the impact of chips’ shortages on connectivity needs.

Data, including satellite-generated data, is a central element in the construction of virtual environments, especially of digital twins. EO data contributes to the creation of accurate XR twins, and GNSS contributes to navigation, positioning and timing when blending physical and virtual activities (e.g., sensor real time data on users’ movements). Extended reality is powered by data, whilst it itself generates large amounts of data. A unique interoperable dataverse bringing together all data relating to the virtual self, entity, activity or sector may thus unfold in the future. In the meanwhile, the role of data in the digital world is widely acknowledged.

In the EU, for instance, the European Strategy for Data from 2020, points to the importance of making more data available and improving the way in which data is used. It aims to create a single European data space, i.e., a single market for data, bringing together legislation, standards, tools and infrastructures for this purpose. A set of regulatory initiatives aimed at promoting the use of open data, the re-use of public data and data sharing were approved: the Open Data Directive – Directive 2019/1024 –, the Data Governance Regulation – Regulation 2022/868 –, and the proposal for the Data Act, published in February 2022. An Implementing Act on High Value Datasets (HVD) (which public sector organizations will have to make available free of charge, in machine-readable format, via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and, where relevant, as a bulk download) was also proposed, covering the HVD indicated in the Open Data Directive.

There are six categories of HVD, including earth observation and environment, and meteorological. In addition, sectoral interoperable data spaces in areas such as climate, energy, health, mobility and agriculture are envisioned – all of which greatly benefit from satellite data. These data spaces, which include infrastructures (cloud), tools and platforms, aim to facilitate data storage and sharing. The first proposal for establishing a data space was published in May 2022 and established the European Health Data Space. Naturally, data challenges need to be further addressed for XR environments to ensure a seamless and interoperable dataverse, where satellite data and resources can be fully harnessed.

By bringing together the metaverse and space, fueled by data and facilitated by satellite networks, humankind may boldly go where no one has gone before. ... right here on Earth and beyond. VS Helena Correia Mendonça is the principal consultant at the Information, Communication & Technology practice at Vieira de Almeida & Associados. She further works on Emerging Technologies, especially on DLT/Blockchain, AI, robotics, autonomous vehicles, and fintech related issues.