Introduction
Space exploration is an integral part of the development of human civilization. One international law regulating states’ behavior in space is called Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and other Celestial Bodies, and was signed in Washington, London, and Moscow on January 27, back in 1967. Therefore, the Artemis Accords signing on October 13, 2020, by Australia, Canada, Japan, Luxembourg, Italy, Great Britain, UAE, and the US is a timely event. This agreement brings together many topics related to space exploration, including the naming of space objects and the use of space resources.
It is noteworthy that space exploration is regulated by numerous national laws, including the United States and the UAE legislation. It is also interesting that some of the new agreement provisions overlap with existing international and federal legislation. This paper aims to discuss how the new and old treaties complement and contradict each other.
Artemis Accords, US and UAE Legislation on Space Resources
How does Section 10 on Space Resources compare to space resources provisions in the US and UAE national space legislations?
Section 10 on Space Resources from Artemis Accords, a new agreement signed by eight countries, including the United States and the UAE, includes the following provisions. First, it states that the agreement aims to ensure that space resources are used in the best interest of humankind. It is further noted that this law and the Outer Space Treaty regulate the extraction and use of space resources, including any recovery from the surface or the inside of the Moon, Mars, comets, or asteroids.
It is argued that the extraction of space resources is not a national appropriation under Article II of the Outer Space Treaty but is governed by the Artemis Accords. Section 10 emphasizes that the signatories are obliged to “inform the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the public and the international scientific community, regarding the extraction of space resources activities by the Outer Space Treaty” (UAE Law on Regulation of Space Sector, 2019, p. 4). Therefore, Artemis Accords introduce new commitments, particularly the responsibility to inform the UN about the extraction of space resources, including resources extracted from the inside of the Moon, Mars, comets, and asteroids.
UAE Law on Regulation of Space Sector issued on December 19, 2019, also provides some critical regulations on space activities, including the extraction, operation, and use of space resources. In particular, Chapter 3, considering Space Activities and Space Debris, sets out important rules and procedures. Article 14 states that agents must obtain permission for any space activities from the government Agency. Further, Article 15 regulates the use of space nuclear power sources by banning the use without Agency authorization and obliges all operators authorized to use space atomic power sources to inform the Agency of risks or incidents involved immediately.
Noteworthy, Article 18 governs the exploitation and use of space resources, indicating that the UAE Council of Ministers Regulation governs any related activity. Such regulation applies to the extraction, exploitation, and use of space resources, including the ownership, purchase, sale, trade, transportation, storage, and any space activity to provide related logistics services. Article 19 of Chapter 3 aims to prevent the formation of space debris. Moreover, Article 30 of Chapter 4 of the Law regulates the handling of meteorites, defining ownership rights for stones that have fallen on the state’s territory. Therefore, the UAE legislation prescribes detailed rules for space activities and the use of space resources.
Finally, the US National Aeronautics and Space Act regulating national and commercial space programs contains three related sections. In particular, Chapter 513 sets out the rules for commercial exploration and the use of space resources. Section 51301 defines the terms ‘asteroid resource’ and ‘space resource.’ An asteroid resource is defined as a space resource found on or within an asteroid. A space resource is an in situ abiotic resource in outer space, including water and minerals. Section 51302 specifies that the President of the United States is required to facilitate the commercial exploration and commercial extraction of space resources by US citizens. The President should discourage government barriers that stand in the way of developing economically viable industries for commercial exploration and extraction of space resources. The President also has to promote US citizens’ right to engage in the commercial exploration and commercial exploration of space resources.
Further, Section 51303 governs the rights to asteroid resources and space resources, stating that “a United States citizen engaged in the commercial extraction of an asteroid resource or space resource has the right to any obtained asteroid or space resource, including ownership, transportation, use, and sale” (Title 51, National and Commercial Space Programs, 2010, p. 20). Interestingly, this provision differs from the UAE legislation regulating meteorites. According to the latter, any citizen who finds a meteorite that fell on the state’s territory must immediately notify the state authorities and that the state has the right to demand scientific information or samples of the found meteorite.
Section 10 on Space Resources pays more attention to international cooperation in the extraction and use of space resources. At the same time, national laws regulate more specific procedures such as resource rights, mining permits, and guidelines for space energy use. It is noteworthy that the UAE and the United States’ laws regulate the commercial use of space resources and prescribe compliance with the rules in the extraction, operation, use, storage, possession, transportation, purchase, sale, and trade of space resources.
Deconfliction Procedures
How does Section 11 on Deconfliction of Space Activities compare with Article IX OST on harmful interference?
Section 11 on Deconfliction of Space Activities, in a sense, duplicates Article IX OST on harmful interference. Clause 5 guarantees that the signatories will inform each other in case of suspicions of any signatory countries’ potentially dangerous in-space activities. In particular, the parties provide each other with the necessary information regarding the place and nature of space activities. Further, Clause 7 of Section 11 coordinates actions in space to avoid interference and defines ‘safety zones’ for the agreed activity. Signatories are expected to abide by several principles related to security zones, including notification of the environment and nature of operations and reasonable determination of the zone’s size and volume using generally accepted scientific and engineering principles.
The nature and presence of ‘safety zones’ can change over time under the status of the actions being taken. Signatories must notify each other and the UN of the creation, modification, or termination of any ‘safety zone.’ Besides, signatories must comply with the principle of free access to all areas of celestial bodies and other provisions of the Outer Space Treaty regarding the use of such zones. Therefore, Clauses 5 and 7 of Section 11 are the most important in defining consistent and cooperative outer space actions.
At the same time, the Outer Space Treaty (OST) provides regulation of the relevant procedures. Article IX of the OST states that in the exploration and use of outer space, states are guided by the principle of cooperation and consider each other’s interests. It is also noted that the states will conduct further studies of celestial bodies and strive to prevent harmful pollution or adverse changes in the Earth’s environment by extraterrestrial substances.
Article IX emphasizes that “if a State Party to the Treaty has reason to believe that an activity or experiment planned by it or its citizens in outer space will cause potentially harmful interference with the activities of other States Parties, it shall conduct appropriate international consultations” (Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States, 1967, p. 15). Therefore, this article and this law represent a completely similar solution to the problem of allegedly dangerous or harmful actions by a signatory party.
Critics of this agreement note it provides the need for consultations between the signatory countries and the possibility of diplomatic intervention if it is impossible to resolve the situation under international law. However, the signatory countries can only bring the case up for joint discussion, and OST does not offer other settlement methods, including a system of fines or punishments. It is typical for international legislation since the signatory countries are not always ready to sign international treaties. Besides, the inclusion of a definition of fines or penalties for non-compliance is not reasonable, given that not all existing countries are signatories. Otherwise, the signing of the agreement would put the signatory countries in a less advantageous position than the countries that did not express their intention to sign the deal.
Conclusion
Thus, this paper analyzed the new Artemis Accords Treaty compared to the Outer Space Treaty and national US and UAE legislation. In particular, it was presented how Sections 10 and 11 of the Artemis Accords overlap with existing legislation. The mentioned legislation determines interactions during the exploration and use of space resources and ways of resolving conflicts. Notably, both the Artemis Accords and the US and UAE’s national laws represent the possibility of commercial exploitation of space resources only subject to government notification and in compliance with the regulations.
However, US laws also stipulate that the President must facilitate the commercial exploration and exploitation of space resources by US citizens. It is also interesting that Section XI on deregulation of conflicts almost completely duplicates Section IX of OST, creating the prerequisites for international consultations if space activities of a particular country pose a threat or danger. Nonetheless, there is currently a need for further development of international legislation determining government agencies’ and individuals’ behavior in space.
Reference List
Title 51, National and Commercial Space Programs (2010). Web.
UAE Law on Regulation of Space Sector (2019). Web.