Japan’s space agency is landing its first lunar probe this week. This makes the Moon an increasingly busy target for spacefaring nations – with conflicting political stances among them.
An artist’s rendering of debris floating through Earth’s orbit.
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Treaties meant to ensure sustainability in space don’t currently regulate private companies, and not every country has signed on to an agreement for sustainable space exploration.
The ‘space economy’ isn’t just rockets and space suits – satellite data, radio and TV are all part of a broadly-defined space economy.
NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP
With commercial space tourism on the rise and NASA planning to return to the Moon, you might think the US space economy is booming – but the data paint a more complex picture.
The Moon marks new territory for commercial, military and geopolitical interests.
NASA/JPL/Cassini Imaging Team/University of Arizona
While a return to the Moon will allow the U.S. to collaborate with other nations interested in space, this endeavor is also complicated by geopolitical tensions.
Illustration of a view of Africa from space.
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David Baratoux, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD); Aziz Diaby Kassamba, Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny. Cocody, Côte-d'Ivoire; Marc Harris Yao Fortune, Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny. Cocody, Côte-d'Ivoire; Marie Korsaga, Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo e Pancrace Aka, Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny. Cocody, Côte-d'Ivoire
Côte d’Ivoire’s nanosatellite is the first step towards applications that monitor environmental harm and illegal activities and assist in planning for development.
NASA’s Artemis I Space Launch System rocket, with the Orion capsule attached, launches at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on November 16, 2022 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
China has invested massively in its space capabilities in recent years and is now a major competitor with the US. But according to a space policy expert, the US still dominates space by most measures.
The Artemis II mission will send four astronauts on a flyby of the Moon.
NASA
The Artemis II mission is scheduled for launch in late 2024 and is a critical step towards NASA’s goals of establishing a permanent human presence on and near the Moon.
Within the next year or two, people will set foot on the surface of the Moon for the first time in 50 years.
NASA
A US-led coalition and China are both planning to establish bases on the Moon. How the two nations will navigate actions on the Moon and how other countries will be involved is still unclear.
An artist’s concept of Canadarm3, Canada’s smart robotic system, on the exterior of the Lunar Gateway.
(Canadian Space Agency, NASA)
Canadian space technologies and innovations play a significant role in the Artemis missions, and our involvement reflects our growing role in this new era of lunar exploration.
Three taikonauts rode aboard the Shenzhou 15 mission on their way to China’s new Tiangong space station.
Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images
China has completed construction of the Tiangong space station, and science projects are now underway. The station is an important piece of China’s ambitious plans for space activity in coming years.
Making territorial claims in space is illegal under international law.
NASA/Neil Armstrong
The era of lunar resource use is quickly approaching. But with legal and practical issues still looming, nations are starting to think about sustainable ways to mine and protect the Moon.
China and the U.S. both have big plans for the Moon, but there are a number of reasons why no country could actually claim ownership of any land there.
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A comment by Bill Nelson, the NASA administrator, sparked a strong public response from the Chinese government. But due to legal and practical reasons, no country could take over the Moon anytime soon.
In the next decade, both a U.S.-led group and a collaboration between Russia and China aim to set up bases on the Moon.
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In the past 10 years, international alliances on Earth have begun to expand into space. Nations with similar interests collaborate with one another while competing with other space blocs.
Space mining might be closer than you think. But legal issues about the ownership of space resources must be urgently addressed to avoid space wars over natural resources.
The only six sites on the farside of the Moon suitable for telescope arrays of around 200km across.
NASA
Humans have been living on the International Space Station for two full decades. So what comes next for this ailing technology, and what does it mean for future International ventures in space?