From request to review
Define the bounded proposal
For access an ocean-world research site, record the requester, location, scope and responsible receiving office. The receipt identifies the clock and competent jurisdiction.
Gate: Location and competence are recorded
Owner: Planetary Protection AuthorityReview methods and raw evidence
Assess mission design; reconcile it with contamination assessment and protected-site access basis. A missing document has an explicit alternative-evidence route rather than silent rejection.
Gate: Evidence is complete or an alternative is agreed
Owner: Planetary Protection AuthorityObtain independent specialist findings
Ask Science & Discovery Commission for the finding within its own powers. The consultation records the specific unresolved question, evidence version and requested response.
Gate: A specialist finding is recorded
Owner: Science & Discovery CommissionResolve protection and future burdens
Research access does not authorize irreversible release Publish or privately communicate the resolution, including dissent and consent limits.
Gate: The stated safeguard is resolved
Owner: Saturnian System AdministrationIssue a conditional research decision
A site-specific protection clearance or refusal. The decision also names the accountable official role, effective event, conditions, review office and follow-up duties.
Gate: Reasons, conditions and review route are available
Owner: Planetary Protection AuthorityMonitor stop conditions and review
Preserve the source record, decision reasons and conditions for access an ocean-world research site. A service complaint routes to the Ombudsman; a contested legal restriction routes to the Union Court.
Gate: Follow-up owner and record custody are named
Owner: Union Ombudsman
Exceptions and alternate routes
Required evidence is unavailable
Record the missing item and propose a witness, existing register reference or independently verified substitute. The completeness review remains open.
Interplanetary communication is interrupted
Record local receipt time and the delegated action available. Preserve a mirrored log for later reconciliation; do not invent a remote approval.
An adverse finding affects the requester
Provide the finding, allow a response, disclose the review route and preserve essential service continuity where applicable.
Institutional interfaces
Funds open science while preserving independent peer review and scientific integrity.
Protects shared environments and ensures industry accounts for cumulative impacts.
Jupiter orbital habitats, its moons and radiation-managed transport. Jupiter has no solid surface settlement.
Saturn orbital infrastructure, rings and moon communities; sensitive sites have independent science protections.
Start the record
Prepare a requestThe assessment behind the stage diagram
The Authority assesses contamination pathways, irreversible effects, material changes and the duty to preserve unique evidence. Logistics and scientific funding are separate findings.
Clean-access method, containment chain and research scope identify the activity. Independent protection evidence is required rather than a sponsor's assurance alone.
Possible decisions and what follows
Access within stated conditions, required redesign, a specific evidence request or refusal.
Instrument changes, custody changes and departures from the approved method reopen the relevant finding before field activity.
Duties after the finding
Keep the scope accurate
Tell the receiving office about a material change in location, activity, operator, record custodian or requested result. The original receipt remains in the history.
Respect source custody
Provide purpose-specific references and authorised representations. Personal, clinical, commercial and protected scientific records have different access scopes.
Respond to a qualified finding
Read the conditions and the institution that owns them. A request for further evidence identifies the specific unresolved issue and the route for an alternative.
Preserve the follow-up
Instrument changes, custody changes and departures from the approved method reopen the relevant finding before field activity.
Disagreement, assistance and evidence alternatives
A completeness query names the unresolved evidence and the alternative the receiving office can assess. An administrative complaint concerns service handling; a legal appeal concerns a finding and its competent remedy. A public petition asks a representative institution to examine a wider issue.