The Artemis Accords: Moonwalking to More Giant Leaps
The Logo of the Artemis Program (Courtesy of NASA)
“We have lingered long enough on the shores of the cosmic ocean. We are ready at last to set sail for the stars.”
By nature, we are dauntless explorers—drawn to the unknown by our curiosity like moths to the flame. As we have mapped out the contours of the Earth’s surface, we have turned our attention skyward onto our final frontier: Outer Space. In the last half-century, we have been incrementally pushing our outer limits as we launched spacecrafts to orbit the Earth as well as to land on the Moon. While we have retreated from some of our more bold advancements, recently, we are once again dreaming of further expansions: establishing a base on the Moon and landing humans on Mars.
When NASA launched the Artemis Program early last year, it was for this purpose: accelerating our manned return to the Moon and testing the next generation of technology needed to carry humanity to Mars. By naming the program Artemis, the mythical twin sister of Apollo, it sought to connect our historic past to our iconic future: landing the first woman on the Moon. But in this latest iteration, NASA does not seek to go it alone—international collaboration will be a key component of the Artemis Program.
To that end, NASA has recently revealed the Artemis Accords: a set of ten principles underlying any bilateral agreement between NASA and its international partners for the program. These accords are the subject of this post. I will start by providing a background on the purpose of the Artemis Accords. Then, I will introduce and give my thoughts on each of its principles. Finally, I will argue that, as a matter of policy, the Artemis Accords are an essential collaborative framework in promoting unity in humanity as we expand our reaches in our spirited journeys into the unknown.
The Moon as the Starting Point
In order for humanity to land on Mars and beyond, we need to battle-test and prove our technology in near Space to ensure that they are up to the rigor of long-durational missions. Furthermore, with the cost of an Earth-based launch extremely high, it would be in our interest to establish a staging base off of Earth. The Moon is the perfect destination for both of these objectives. But, the current lack of a set of universally-adopted regulations could hinder the accomplishment of such goals. The Artemis Accords can fill this gap.
It has been several decades since humans last personally graced the surface of the Moon. Since then, crewed operations have been limited to Low-Earth Orbit. Hence, the Moon is an important proving ground to ensure that our technology is capable of safely transporting humans to Mars. Through these training missions on and to the Moon, our eventual Martian crews are provided with a more realistic sandbox to adapt technologies and refine techniques for Outer Space. With the Moon still relatively close to Earth, these undertakings would also be conducted in a more “controlled” environment. Should a disaster occur, we can still communicate with the crew in near-instantaneous fashion as well as send and facilitate help as necessary.
Furthermore, escaping Earth’s gravity always takes a heavy toll. So, the Moon would be the perfect staging base for a mission to Mars. By setting up a logistics base on the Moon, it will make us more prepared to overcome the challenges entailed in setting up a colony on Mars. Additionally, with less fuel needed to overcome its gravity, the Moon also serves as a more cost-effective launching point. Simultaneously, we can, as some science fiction novels have envisioned, take advantage of the Moon’s natural resources and help to augment the supplies needed for industries back on Earth.
But, colonizing the Moon for such purposes will not only require further advancement in our technology, we will also need to devise a workable governing framework to ensure international cooperation. While there is an international treaty—the Moon Treaty of 1979—that is specifically designed to regulate activities on the Moon, it has not gained traction with a lack of acceptance among space-faring nations. This lack of a set of universally-acceptable guidelines can hinder successful international partnerships. But with the Artemis Program envisioning the Moon as an intermediate step to Mars, this natural satellite of ours will likely see a significant increase in human activities in the next decade. Hence, NASA came up with the Artemis Accords to fill in this void of regulations, setting up rules of the road that will enable nations to work together in a vast unclaimed—and potentially unforgiving—environment.
The Ten Principles of the Artemis Accords
A set of ten principles, the Artemis Accords will form the fundamental backbone for all bilateral agreements between NASA and its international partners. These principles are largely derived from existing international treaties such as the Outer Space Treaty of 1967. By formalizing these ideals into a single document, NASA is trying to proactively ensure that our return to the Moon will be one built on international cooperation, paving the way for eventual multinational missions to Mars and beyond.
Principle #1: Peaceful Purposes
The Artemis Accords begins with the core principle that all of the program’s activities “will be conducted for peaceful purposes.” This is directly aligned with the central theme of the Outer Space Treaty: that Outer Space should be open and free for exploration by all nations.
By embracing this principle first, it sets the foundation of the Artemis Program as one fundamentally based on the continued peaceful exploration of Outer Space for the benefit of humanity. Practically speaking, as more nations join Artemis, this provision will provide teeth to the Outer Space Treaty’s peaceful purpose measure. These accords, via the bilateral agreements, will contractually bind nations to a principle that would be otherwise hard to enforce in practice.
Principle #2: Transparency
The Artemis Program requires all of its international partners to “publicly describ[e] their own policies and plans in a transparent manner.” Transparency of goals and purposes is important for making Outer Space a safer environment for all nations to explore; it ensures that there is a free exchange of relevant mission information among different nations. While this requirement does not appear to have any direct roots in existing treaties, it sets an important foundation for international cooperation on the Moon.
Although we have been to the Moon before, our understanding of its environment is still in its infancy. When we return, we will be learning to adapt to its many hazards and difficulties as we further develop the technologies and capabilities needed to explore and settle in an atmosphere-less environment. Because the Moon is potentially fraught with unknown dangers, lunar activities need to be coordinated. Hence, transparency related to the purposes of different nations’ missions is critical for all parties to be well-informed of each other’s activities. This will enable all parties to assess each other’s impact and coordinate activities to the extent practical, creating as safe of an environment for exploration as possible.
Principle #3: Interoperability
Through the Artemis Program, NASA intends to explore Outer Space with a strong international coalition. In order to meet this goal, all of the different components, spacecrafts, and systems involved in the program must be interoperable. Hence, the Artemis Accords instructs its partners to “utilize open international standards, develop new standards when necessary, and strive to support interoperability to the greatest extent practical.”
In order to rapidly develop and refine our technologies for Deep Space exploration, standardization is an absolute necessity. Just as how open source standards rapidly advanced software technologies, harmonized international standards can quickly enhance existing Outer Space technologies using the collective brainpower of Earth. With the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway—and any future lunar bases—made up of components from many different nations, it is crucial that they are designed with interoperability in mind. Streamlining space-faring technology under open standards will encourage both fast-moving start-ups and well-established companies around the world to jump in the fray and contribute their innovations, enabling us to become an advanced space-faring species more rapidly.
Principle #4: Emergency Assistance
In the Artemis Accords, NASA also takes into account the Rescue Agreement of 1968 by ensuring that all nations will “commit to taking all reasonable steps possible to render assistance to astronauts in distress.” As Outer Space is full of unknowns and is inhospitable for humans, it is critical that all nations render aid and assistance to crews in distress.
So far, those who have ventured into Outer Space are all brave souls that represent the best of humanity. Outer Space is an environment that is biologically unsuited for our physiques, so it takes a significant amount of courage to face this unknown. As we return to the Moon, we will be sending the best of us to face many unique challenges, some that we can’t even anticipate today. Hence, we must both reduce the risk and provide as much of a safety net as humanly possible to these fearless representatives of humanity. Outer Space can be a very lonely place, especially in a compact capsule on an extended mission. Therefore, if any crew is ever in distress because of technology malfunctions or accidents, we must be ready to step in and remind them that they are not alone and that their homeworld always have their backs.
Principle #5: Registration of Space Objects
In order to ensure that the owner of any object in Outer Space can be readily identified, the Artemis Accords mandates that “any partner [who] isn’t already a member of the Registration Convention to join as soon as possible.” Here, these Accords references the Registration Convention of 1975, which introduced a framework for identifying objects in Outer Space.
In emphasizing the importance of a registration and identification system via the Registration Convention, this Artemis principle provides the mechanism needed to enforce other provisions. For example, if a nation does not know who owns a specific object in Outer Space, it’s hard to collaborate with the owner of such object to ensure that standardization and harmonization of technology can be achieved. Furthermore, if a space-based object is in distress, without proper identification, it becomes impossible to coordinate with the country responsible for such object, hindering rescue and recovery operations.
Principle #6: Release of Scientific Data
An important side goal of the Artemis Program is to bring humanity together in our investigation of the unknown. Space exploration is a public good and NASA wants to incentivize all nations to work collaboratively by sharing their new found discoveries. Hence, NASA requires all of their international partners to release “their scientific data publicly to ensure that the entire world can benefit from the Artemis journey of exploration and discovery.”
In the great vastness of the universe, Earth is but a pale blue dot. When viewed from this perspective, any of our achievements in Outer Space is not only the pride of one nation, but of humanity as a whole. By encouraging the release of scientific data to the broader world, this principle ensures that the knowledge derived from Outer Space discoveries are available to everyone. This goal is also aligned with the fact that “absolute sovereignty” does not really exist in Outer Space: no nation can claim the Moon or any other celestial body for itself. Therefore, like a public research facility, the Moon and other celestial bodies should be open for safe and/or controlled experiments by everyone. For this privilege, these entities and individuals must be willing to share their resulting data publicly.
Principle #7: Protecting Heritage
Our past experiences are a major part of our fabric and form who we are today. Like the preservation of historic sites on Earth where we can learn more about our ancestors and our backgrounds, NASA also want its international partners to commit “to the protection of sites and artifacts with historic value” in Outer Space. These locations and relics will not only serve to remind us of our humble beginnings as a space-faring species but can also act as a measuring rod of how much farther we can and will go.
For tales as old as time, we have always look to our historians and storytellers. During times of oral tradition, they were among the most respected individuals in a society. As we developed tools and constructed monuments, historic artifacts and sites have taken their place among these individuals as important bridges between our past and our present. These mementos will forever remind us where we came from and how far we have come. When we become an interstellar species and take up settlements in distant stars such as Alpha Centauri, these relics will become even more important as our evolved descendants rediscover and remember their origins.
Principle #8: Space Resources
The Artemis Accords instructs NASA’s international partners to follow the Outer Space Treaty’s procedures in conducting their “space resource extraction and utilization” process. This is one of the more ambiguous principles since there are no national appropriation rights under the Outer Space Treaty. Hence, it is likely that as the Artemis Program develops, it will define the rules related to mining and drilling in accordance to international treaties.
When it comes to Outer Space mining, it is truly the Wild Wild West. While the Moon Treaty of 1979 discusses space mining, it envisions an Enterprise system: the party who mines the resource will need to share it equally with all State parties. However, without exclusive mining rights, this could discourage investment and development of an effective mining system. Furthermore, the Moon Treaty does not have broad acceptance among space-faring nations. Meanwhile, some asteroid mining companies have argued that while the Outer Space Treaty does not allow any entity to “own” an asteroid, it does enable mining in Outer Space as a type of “licensing” use right. But, with no explicit rules and regulations governing Outer Space mining operations, NASA and its international partners will likely set the precedent here as they develop lunar settlements, including mining facilities, through the Artemis Program.
Principle #9: Deconfliction of Activities
As a next step to Artemis Accords’ Transparency principle, NASA also wants its international partners to setup certain safety zones and implement a system of “notification and coordination between partner nations to respect such safety zones [to] prevent harmful interference.” This principle implements Article IX of the Outer Space Treaty, ensuring that all nations’ peaceful activities are left undisrupted.
Because Outer Space is a common heritage of humanity, we must coordinate our actions so that all peaceful and research activities can be conducted without interference. While Outer Space is essentially boundless, our current capabilities limit us to an infinitesimally small area of the universal whole. Hence, due care must be taken to ensure that all countries can achieve their own research and exploration goals without interruption from other nations’ activities. While this would take coordination and transparency, it is also important for all nations to think critically about any unintended consequences that might result from their own activities.
Principle #10: Orbital Debris and Spacecraft Disposal
Finally, all international partners in the Artemis Program must “agree to plan for the mitigation of orbital debris, including the safe, timely, and efficient passivation and disposal of spacecraft at the end of their missions.” This principle also would work to effectuate other Artemis Accords’ principles such as the deconfliction of activities. This goal is not to be taken lightly since expired objects and uncontrolled debris can lead to the Kessler Syndrome and make activities in Outer Space more dangerous.
As we launch more and more payloads into Outer Space, the orbits around Earth are becoming increasingly crowded with both active modules and defunct rocket parts. As these objects could travel at speeds of up to 17,500 miles per hour, they can be dangerous hazards that will become increasingly hard to avoid. While new companies and ideas are being formed and developed to either solve or mitigate the space debris issue, it is mainly reactive looking. Hence, countries must work proactively to mitigate the damages that can come from their Outer Space-bound objects once they become defunct. This principle will incentivize all of NASA’s partners to think critically about how to safely deorbit their objects at the end-of-life to ensure that both the near-space and other prominent locations above us do not become dangerous unusable hazard areas.
Analysis: Outlining a Cooperative Future
Thematically, the ten principles of Artemis Accords demonstrate NASA’s fundamental objective in making Deep Space Exploration a communal affair for the greater good of humanity as a whole. Although activities in Outer Space are regulated by several international treaties, the Artemis Accords, through its implementation in bilateral agreements, should provide the teeth needed to enforce several critical concepts espoused in these international documents. By framing the rules of the road prior to our next big expansion in Deep Space exploration activities, the Artemis Accords can set the foundation for how different parties should cooperate with one another as we venture forward.
With both governmental and commercial activities increasing, more specific regulations and cooperative operating frameworks are essential to ensure the safety and productivity of activities in Outer Space. Although existing treaties have largely been successful at resolving conflicts in Outer Space, they are becoming more and more inadequate. While current human activities in Outer Space have been largely confined to Low Earth Orbit, this will change in the upcoming decades. As we move further into the unknown and farther away from our home planet, cooperative-based regulations such as the Artemis Accords are essential in preserving order and structure in a uncharted and isolating environment. These rules of the road can enable different nations to explore Deep Space independently while operating under a cohesive framework. This is especially important since the individual crews will largely need to depend on each other for rescue and support should an emergency occur far from Earth.
As we journey farther and farther away from Earth—the only home we have ever known—we will realize more and more that the commonalities that bind us far exceed the minute differences that separate us. Through sharing scientific data and adhering to a goal of non-interference, the Artemis Accords will empower us to seamlessly work independently while synergistically. By standardizing technology among international partners and preserving sites of historic importance, the Artemis Accords will also remind us of our common heritage. Ultimately, by embracing these collaborative principles, we will, together, improve as well as expand the reaches of humanity as a whole as we dream to sleep under a night sky containing our very own pale blue dot.
Resources
Artemis Accords: https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis-accords/index.html
