Space research: The key to cosmic environmental stewardship

Shaping the Future of the Moon: International Frameworks for Safe and Sustainable Lunar Activity

The Outer Space Treaty, with 116 State parties, provides a general framework for the development of a global governance of space exploration and of safe, peaceful and sustainable Lunar activities.

Its principles set out the core foundation for the exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies. Though not always providing the desired level of detail, it nevertheless established a solid international law basis from which other instruments may emerge, such as guidelines and principles addressing sustainable activities on the Moon and other celestial bodies. The 1979 Moon Agreement is far clearer on those points but has not been ratified by the major space faring nations.  In comparison with other international governance regimes, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) makes a distinction between prospecting, exploration and exploitation of the deep seabed beyond national jurisdictions.¹ Also of interest is the Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction.² With a potential future conflict of interest between space exploration and space resource utilization, there should be a closer engagement between the different user communities to establish the parameters for cooperation and synergies, for instance in the prospecting as well as exploration phases of future extraction of space resources. In this overall context, the 2025 proposed initial draft set of principles on space resource activities, written under the auspices of the  UNCOPUOS Legal Subcommittee Working Group on Space Resource Activities (document A/AC.105/C.2/L.339) is an interesting first step towards a negotiated framework for lunar sustainability.      

Indeed, international efforts are intensifying to ensure sustainable lunar activities . The Global Expert Group on Sustainable Lunar Activities (GEGSLA) has released a Recommended Framework promoting safe operations, environmental protection, and governance on the Moon.³ The voice of young space professionals is compiled in the Space Generation Advisory Council's “EAGLE Report” that proposes a Lunar Governance Charter to guide international collaboration.⁴

The Lunar Policy Platform's "Lunar Policy Priorities" report identifies ten key areas for safe lunar development and suggests a Lunar Policy Decalogue.⁵

In its recent report “Space Exploration: keeping the momentum going”, the Air and Space Academy (AAE) argues that planetary activities must be carried out in a safe, sustainable, and symbiotic manner, emphasizing the need for systematic environmental impact assessments to rigorously evaluate and refine mitigation measures.⁶ Consequently, the establishment of an environmental database for celestial bodies is of paramount importance.

At the UN level, UNCOPUOS established in 2024 the Action Team on Lunar Activities Consultation (ATLAC) to foster global dialogue. These initiatives underscore the importance of transparency, stakeholder alignment, and environmental stewardship in lunar governance. With rapid space sector growth, ethical and timely complementary frameworks and instruments are crucial in fostering a legal order of contemporary exploration and use.

In 2019, UNCOPUOS adopted the Guidelines for the Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities, addressing policy, safety, cooperation, and research, and which in Guideline D.1 emphasize the promotion and support of research into and the development of ways to support sustainable exploration and use of outer space. ESA’s “Revolution Space” report (2023) calls for a sustainable European space strategy.⁷  In 2019, The Hague International Space Resources Governance Working Group drafted the “Building Blocks for the Development of an International Framework on Space Resource Activities”.⁸ NASA’s Artemis, Ethics and Society Workshop (2023) stressed the need to address the ethical and societal impacts of space initiatives.⁹ Similarly, GEGSLA’s 2024 Project Plan advocates for the sustainable management of lunar heritage.^{10, 11}

Science as the Key enabler of a Sustainable Lunar Future

As outlined in the introduction, scientific research greatly benefits from space exploration, not only in our understanding of the Solar System and of the Universe in which we live (via robotic exploration and space astronomy) but also for many scientific and technical disciplines that are intrinsic partners of human exploration.

But at the same time, the imperious requirement of environmental stewardship of celestial bodies calls for a deeper, more balanced, two-way and win-win partnership between Science and Exploration:

• Exploration is an enabler of new scientific quests: while offering a deeper insight into the specific cosmic destinations Moon, Mars and asteroids, exploration also offers new opportunities for a diversity of sciences, for instance in astronomy (astronomy from the Moon or in orbit), in life sciences and plant/animal/human physiology, in ecosystems, economics, international trade, space law etc.
• Science is an enabler of exploration: understanding and assessing the impacts of exploration on natural cosmic environments, and finding solutions to mitigate these impacts, is a major interdisciplinary scientific challenge involving a broad spectrum of disciplines.

Authors:

P. Ehrenfreund¹, M. Blanc², N. Hedman³, T. Masson-Zwaan⁴, W. Peeters⁵, J.C. Worms^3
1 Space Policy Institute, George Washington University, Washington DC
² Research Institute in Astrophysics and Planetology (IRAP), CNRS-University Toulouse III – CNES, Toulouse, France
³ Committee on Space Research COSPAR, Paris, France
⁴ Leiden University, International Institute of Air and Space Law, The Netherlands
⁵ International Space University, Illkirch Graffenstaden, France

Footnotes:

¹ https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXI-10&chapter=21&clang=_en

² https://www.un.org/bbnjagreement/en

³ https://moonvillageassociation.org/gegsla/

⁴ https://spacegeneration.org/eagle/documents

⁵ https://lunarpolicyplatform.org/policypriorities

⁶ https://academieairespace.com/publications/opinion-n19-space-exploration-maintaining-the-momentum/?lang=en

⁷ https://vision.esa.int/category/ambition/revolution-space/

⁸ https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/law/institute-of-public-law/institute-of-air-space-law/the-hague-space-resources-governance-working-group

⁹ https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/otps-artemis-ethics-and-society-report-final-9-21-02023-tagged.pdf

¹⁰ https://moonvillageassociation.org/download/gegla-opereational-phase-project-plan-2024/

¹¹ https://www.forallmoonkind.org/