NASA The return to the moon plan is quite ambitious in itself, but the agency aims to modernize international cooperation in space in the process. Today he released a summary of the "Artemis agreements" a new set of voluntary guidelines to which nations and partner organizations are invited to join to further the cause of exploration and industry globally.
Having neither national affiliation nor proper sovereignty, space is by definition illegal. So it is not so much space laws as priorities shared in a reasonably strong way. Many countries are already participating in various agreements and treaties, but advances in space exploration (and soon colonization and mining, among others) have overcome much of this structure. A new coat of paint has expired and NASA decided to take the brush.
The Artemis agreements reiterate the importance of these old rules and conventions and introduce new ones. They are only described in general today, as the details will likely have to be worked out in shared conversations for months or years.
NASA's statement outlining the rules and the rationale behind each is brief and visibly intended to be understood by a lay audience, so you can read it here. But I have condensed the main points of the chips below for more streamlined consumption.
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First, the rules that could be considered new. NASA and partner countries agree:
- Publicly describe policies and plans in a transparent manner.
- Publicly state the location and general nature of operations to create "safe areas" and avoid conflicts.
- Use international open standards, develop new standards if necessary and support interoperability as much as possible.
- Publicly disclose scientific data in a timely manner.
- Protect sites and artifacts of historic value. (For example, the Apollo program landing sites, which have no real legal protection.)
- Plan for the mitigation of orbital debris, including the safe and timely disposal of spacecraft at the end of their useful life.
As you can imagine, each of them opens a new box of worms: what constitutes transparency? What transactions should be disclosed and when? Who determines what has "historical value"?
Anything that can be discussed will be discussed for a long time, but setting basic expectations like "don't be booked" or "don't fly the Apollo 13 lander" is a great place to start the conversation.
Meanwhile, the agreements also reaffirm NASA's commitment to existing treaties and directives. He and his partners:
- Perform all activities for peaceful purposes only, in accordance with the Outer Space Treaty.
- Take all reasonable steps to assist astronauts in distress under the Astronaut Rescue Agreement and other agreements.
- Record the items sent to the space, in accordance with the Recording Agreement.
- Proceed with the extraction and use of space resources in accordance with Articles II, VI and XI of the Outer Space Treaty.
- Inform associated nations on "safe areas" and coordinate in accordance with Article IX of the Outer Space Treaty.
- Mitigate waste in accordance with guidelines established by the United Nations Commission on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.
The Artemis program aims to bring the next American man and first woman to the surface of the Moon in 2024, although this timeline is seems increasingly improbable. The mission will leverage private launch providers and other business partners to an unprecedented degree in an effort to reduce costs and delays while maintaining the necessary levels of reliability and security.