Member news

IISL Board Member publishes on SpaceWatchGL Geopolitics – China and the Moon

IISL Board Member Fabio Trionchetti published an article on Space Watch Global addressing the Chinese position towards lunar activities. The piece analyses China’s position on lunar (and other celestial bodies) activities in light of the recent Chinese submission to the Working Group on Legal Aspects of Space Resource Activities of the Legal Subcommittee of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. The article was originally published on 14 March 2014 on SpaceWatch Global at https://spacewatch.global/2024/03/spacewatchgl-geopolitics-china-and-the-moon/. SpaceWatchGL Geopolitics – China and the Moon By Dr. Fabio Tronchetti The recent Chinese official communication to COPUOS is the first evident manifestation of China’s willingness to engage in multilateral negotiations on this subject. Credit: Emma Gatti/SpaceWatch.Global What is China’s position on space resource activities? The following is a commentary on the Chinese approach following its submission to the Working Group on Legal Aspects of Space Resource Activities of the Legal Subcommittee of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS). On March 6th, 2024, China submitted to the Working Group on Legal Aspects of Space Resource Activities of the Legal Subcommittee of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS)a document highlighting the country’s position towards the utilization of space resources and indicated selected issues that should be addressed as a matter of priory importance. The submission represents the first official initiative taken by China to delineate its approach on the regulation of space resources activities; unsurprisingly, this document has received significant attention in the press and among scholars. It seems, therefore, important to undertake an analysis of its content, indicating how the Chinese position differs from that expressed by other countries and assess its implications moving forward. Recent developments in space resources activities In the past decade, the Moon has returned to the centre of States’ space agenda. The United States and China are leading coalitions of States, respectively under the framework of the Artemis Program and the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), with the aim of returning humans to the Moon, building facilities on its surface, and possibly using lunar resources to sustain their missions. These plans have spurred numerous initiatives intended to fill the gaps left open by the space treaties about activities undertaken on celestial bodies. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty (OST) only declared celestial bodies non-appropriable (Art. II, OST) and recognized the right of States to explore and use outer space, provided that such exploration and use are carried out for the benefit and in the interest of all countries (Art. I, OST). However, the OST does not specify how these principles apply to activities carried out on a celestial body, leaving, thus, key questions open to diverging interpretations (i.e. are resources appropriable? Is their use, particularly for profit, consistent with the OST?) The Moon occupies a place of special importance in the Chinese space program. In the last decade, four States-  the United States, Luxembourg, the UAE and Japan- have enacted national space resources utilization laws; these laws not only affirm the legality of the use of resources for profit but also lay down the regulatory foundation to authorize private space resources activities. In 2020 the United States went one step further by delineating in a document called the Artemis Accords, a series of principles intended to guide the activities of the States participating in the Artemis Program. The Accords contain several provisions that, while intended to give shape to the principles of the OST in the context of lunar activities, raise questions associated with their consistency with the Treaty itself. The possibility of establishing ‘safety zones’ on the Moon’s surface to prevent harmful interference with one’s mission represents a perfect example of this controversial approach (are ‘safety zones’ consistent with the non-appropriative nature of the Moon?). Importantly, the developments described above occurred outside of the traditional international law-making framework for space activities that has in COPUOS, and specifically its Legal Subcommittee, its centrepiece. This has raised concerns relating to the fragmentation of international space law and the de-legitimation of the law-making role of COPUOS. To reconcile different positions and ideally develop a common understanding of the rules governing space resources utilization activities, States agreed to discuss the matter in the COPUOS’ Legal Subcommittee. In 2022 a Working Group on Legal Aspects of Space Resource Activities was set up with the goal, inter alia, to develop a set of initial recommended principles for such activities by 2027. China and the Moon The Moon occupies a place of special importance in the Chinese space program. Between 2007 and 2020, China undertook the first phase of its lunar exploration program, which included orbiting the Moon with a probe, landing a rover on the Moon’s surface and its far-side, and automated collection of lunar samples. China is now entering the second phase of its lunar exploration program, consisting, first, of a series of missions to study water deposits and other physical resources at the South Pole of the Moon and then, the construction of a lunar research station. To achieve this goal, China has launched the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) initiative, which has been joined so far by 8 countries with 10 other States currently negotiating their participation. Unlike the Artemis Program, the ILRS does not have a regulatory instrument to guide the activities of its participants; up to this moment, China has only concluded cooperation agreements with the participating States, even though it has made clear its intention to develop more detailed arrangements on a bilateral basis. China describes the ILRS as a scientific research facility open to all interested countries and envisions the use of lunar resources for scientific research and support of its mission. Notably, China has not enacted a national space resources utilization law nor has launched any initiative outside of COPUOS to promote its interpretation of the space treaties about space resources activities. The Chinese submission to the Working Group China submitted to the Working Group on Legal Aspects of Space Resource Activities of the Legal Subcommittee of COPUOS to respond to the Chair’s invitation to provide information