A need for rules
As efforts to return to the Moon began ramping up in the 2000s, NASA was so concerned by the destructive potential of lunar dust that in 2011 it issued a set of recommendations to all space-faring entities. The goal was to protect Apollo and other U.S. objects on the lunar surface that are of historical and scientific value. The recommendations implement “exclusion zones,” defined by NASA as “boundary areas into which visiting spacecraft should not enter.” These suggestions are not enforceable against any entity or nation unless they are contracting directly with NASA.
The very concept of these zones violates the plain meaning and intent of Article II of the Outer Space Treaty. The article states that no area of space is subject to “national appropriation” by “means of use or occupation.” Creating an exclusion zone around a landing or mining site certainly could be considered an occupation.
However, the Outer Space Treaty does offer a potential solution.
International actions
Article IX of the Outer Space Treaty requires that all activities in space be conducted “with due regard to the corresponding interests of others.” Under this philosophy, many nations are currently working toward collaborative use of space resources.
To date, 21 nations have agreed to the Artemis Accords, which use the due regard provision of the Outer Space Treaty to support the development of “notification and coordination” zones, also called “safety zones.” While 21 nations is not an insignificant number, the accords do not at this time include the major space-faring nations of China, Russia or India.
In June 2022, the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space formed the Working Group on Legal Aspects of Space Resource Activities. This group’s mandate is to develop and recommend principles concerning the “exploration, exploitation and utilization of space resources.” While the group has yet to address substantive matters, at least one country not in the Artemis Accords, Luxembourg, has already expressed an interest in promoting safety zones.
This working group is a perfect avenue through which safety zones like those outlined in the Artemis Accords could get unanimous international support. For All Moonkind, a nonprofit organization I founded that is composed of space experts and NASA veterans, has a mission to support the establishment of protective zones around sites of historic significance in space as a first version of safety zones. While initially driven by the aggravating lunar dust, safety zones could be a starting point for the development of a functional system of resource and territory management in space. Such an action would protect important historical sites. It could also have the added benefit of framing resource management as a tool of conservation rather than exploitation.
Michelle L.D. Hanlon, Professor of Air and Space Law, University of Mississippi
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