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.
Avoiding conflict is essential to maintaining space as a global commons, to be used by all.
(Shutterstock)
Our reliance on space infrastructure means that conflict in space would have global catastrophic consequences. But a recent declaration by the United States provides hope.
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.
Theasis/iStock via Getty Images
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.
Eugene Cernan on the Moon, December 13, 1972, during the Apollo 17 mission, the last manned flight to the Earth’s natural satellite.
NASA
Governments and corporations must get serious about the legal, technical, economic, social and ethical implications of a potential space-based resource economy.
NASA is reportedly investigating the first alleged crime in space. But criminal jurisdiction aboard the International Space Station is much more straightforward than it would be for space tourists.
In the fourth episode of our podcast series, we look at the practical, legal and ethical questions about going to set up base on the moon – and mining its resources.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, US, May 2019.
NASA Kennedy
This are looking up when it comes to launching things into space from Australia. The rules on what can be launched are currently under review and open for comment.
Territorial claim? US astronaut Buzz Aldrin salutes the American flag.
NASA
A new study suggests that we should limit ourselves to developing just one eight of the solar system.
Perhaps hoping for an election boost, India’s Prime Minister Modi announces that Indian scientists shot down a live satellite at a low-earth orbit.
Jaipal Singh / AAP
On 27 March, India announced it had successfully conducted an anti-satellite missile test, Mission Shakti. India is now the fourth country in the world displaying this capability.
Neil Armstrong took this photograph of Buzz Aldrin during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity on the moon.
NASA
Throughout the world, unique sites of natural and cultural heritage are protected for future generations. But what about sites on the moon that represent the beginning of the human space age?
No country can lay claim to sovereignty over a planet, moon or rocky body. But in the absence of clear laws regulating mining in space, it’s a case of first in, best dressed for resource extraction.
Space law is a growing and important discipline.
piick/Shutterstock
If Ghana is to fully harness the benefits of space technology, it will need space legislation and regulations.
Edwin E. ‘Buzz’ Aldrin Jr. poses for a photograph beside the U.S. flag deployed on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission on July 20, 1969.
Neil A. Armstrong/NASA/AP Photo
Fifty years ago, on July 20, 1969, American astronauts planted a US flag on the moon. A space lawyer explains the implications, who owns the moon, and what it means for lunar mining.
US President Trump holds up a space policy directive he just signed during a meeting of the US National Space Council 18 June 2018.
MICHAEL REYNOLDS/AAP