Outer Space Law

This is the official letter addressed to the United Nations placed by the United States. The letter requests that the United Nations circulate the signed Accords and submitted letter to all Member States. It provides more information about the purpose and authority of the Accords.

On October 13th 2020, at the occasion of the 71st International Astronautical Congress, a coalition of 8 Countries including Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States of America presented a multilateral document called “The Artemis Accords”. Legally, the Artemis Accords constitute a political commitment towards certain “Principles for Cooperation in the Civil Exploration and Use of the Moon, Mars, Comets and Asteroids for Peaceful Purposes”. Politically, the Accords aim to “operationalize” the norms of the Outer Space Treaty for the development and execution of the Artemis Program. Unsurprisingly, this announcement has raised both appreciation and scepticism, with some States considering to sign the document and some others criticising the process as “too US- centric”. In parallel, the space law community has started to discuss the legal and policy impact of the Accords, with eminent colleagues either speaking in their support or calling for more cautiousness. In this context, this article focuses on the principle of interoperability described in Section 5 of the Accords, discussing its implications on the future of space exploration.

This brief article gives an overview the Accords, analyzes the differences between the Accords and the Moon Agreement, and discusses what is next for Outer Space Law.

This study summarises the results and recommendations of the NASA-sponsored Space Exploration Working Group within the Space Generation Congress 2019, organised by the Space Generation Advisory Council in Washington, D.C. The Working Group consisted of 26 delegates from 15 different countries and representatives from NASA Headquarters. The group examined the evolution of lunar exploration in terms of international cooperation, socio-economic and technological challenges, and the inclusion of private industry. This report discusses the political, economic, and technological trade-offs between a multi-agency/multinational monolithic lunar base to multiple lunar bases operated by individual nations. Using the International Space Station as a model for international cooperation, the working group concluded that an initial infrastructure of a single station requiring a collaborative effort between nations and commercial stakeholders is the recommended approach. From this foothold, the presence is expanded to multiple bases with a standardization of planning, building, and operating lunar bases. Strategic recommendations were identified to be addressed to the United Nations and other public/private stakeholders with the vision of a cooperative legal and technical framework as the optimal foundation for a sustainable lunar economy.

This article examines the extent to which the Artemis Accords comply with international law and international standards. It argues that, while rooted on the provisions of the Outer Space Treaty, the Artemis Accords introduce a significant innovation in international space law by replacing the anticipatory approach to the regulation of outer space activities with the staged principle of adaptive governance.