Tue, 06/15/2021
This post is a summary of Episode 22 of The Nebraska Governance & Technology Center’s (NGTC) Podcast Series, Tech Refactored. In this special episode, guest hosts and NGTC student fellows C. Mitchell Clark and Aryan Singh are joined by Matthew Schaefer , Professor of International Trade Law and Co-Director of the Space, Cyber and Telecom Law Program, and Frans von Der Dunk, Harvey & Susan Perlman Alumni and Othmer Professor of Space Law, both of the University of Nebraska College of Law.
Over the last several years, the prospects of space as a place not just for exploration, but as a potential source of rare earth elements, have increased substantially. However, prior to the Artemis Accords, existing international space law was relatively silent on the legality of using celestial bodies for purposes of resource extraction, and thus the Artemis Accords emerged to, if not fill that vacuum in that they are a set of political commitments rather than operative law, than at least to express an understanding between world governments about existing accepted principles governing the use of space, as well as an expression of the view that the extraction of resources from solar system and interstellar bodies is a permissible endeavor.
As Schaefer explains, the US and several other countries take the position that entities, governmental and otherwise, have the right to “use, explore and extract” space resources, and that such a position is not in violation of existing international treaties. Among other things, the Artemis Accords are a series of agreements on that basic principle. It is important to note that the Artemis Accords are a series of bilateral agreements between the United States and other countries, meaning that they are individual two-party agreements, rather than a general convention to which a number of countries are signatories. But as more countries sign these bilateral agreements, they can be seen as representing an emerging international consensus around certain principles governing the use of space.
The Artemis Accords arose as a practical response to a planned international space mission called the Artemis Program, which is a US-led project to land the first woman and the next man on the moon as part of an international cooperative effort. In order to do that, as Schaeffer explained, the United States felt that the existing international understandings regarding space exploration had to be updated in order to ensure that everyone was operating from a shared set of basic principles about what sorts of activities are permissible in space. The views enshrined in the Artemis Accords are not the only set of ideas regarding what the rules governing the use of space should be; the Russians, Chinese, and Europeans, among others, have their own conceptions of the shape of future of space exploration.
Presently the Artemis Accords include 11 bilateral treaties between the United States and other countries, but Schaefer and von der Dunk are optimistic that this is only the start. Notably, according to Schaefer, the Artemis Accords were not intended to be the final word on the terms of space exploration, instead there are simultaneously efforts at creating a multinational consensus on the terms of space exploration that could coalesce and be codified in a completely separate multilateral document. As Schaefer said, “the Artemis Accords are really not trying to cut off international discussion; they are really meant as a prod toward further international discussions. In fact, the preamble of the Artemis Accords themselves (identifies) the benefits of coordination via multilateral forums, such as the UN Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.”
In terms of the extraction of minerals from celestial bodies, Professor von der Dunk was hesitant to put too definite a time horizon on when we might expect to see extraction become commercially feasible, but he was willing to ballpark it in the neighborhood of “10, 12, 50 years before we see the first operation.” There are several practical steps that would need to be taken first. As von der Dunk explained:
“The first thing you need to do is to reconnoiter from earth. Which asteroids, or if you want to talk about the moon, which parts of the moon are particularly interesting (in terms of being able to) find water or minerals or whatever we’re looking for. The second thing, certainly when it comes to asteroids, is that you actually send a mission there to find out in detail, okay, how can we land there? How can we extract from those asteroids? And before you do that, that takes at least five years of preparation. And then the next stage is probably to send an actual excavating space object there.”
When it comes to the future prospects of the Artemis Accords, professors von der Dunk and Schaeffer were optimistic. Schaeffer noted that both Ukraine and Brazil are recent signatories. Von der Dunk noted that even competing efforts by the Russians and the Chinese could be seen as complementary, in that they likely will contain similar provisions to those contained in the Artemis Accords, in that they both countries see the value of a rules-based order that would allow for the extraction of resources from celestial bodies.
Lastly, the exploration of space is more than just a practical pursuit; it captures the imagination on a fundamental, almost spiritual dimension. What role does that play in the pursuits underlying the Artemis Accords? Professor von der Dunk was very keyed in to this dimension. In his professional capacity he has worked as a consultant to the United Arab Emirates. Von der Dunk noted that, to his clients in that Islamic country, the moon is a very holy part of their religious culture. And in deciding to sign on to their iteration of the Artemis Accords, especially with regard to the provisions regarding space mining, they consulted several Imams (religious authorities). He wasn’t privy to the theological details of those conversations, but he noted those those discussion point to the fact that space exploration does raise some “profound philosophical questions” about space as a shared, universal space. And I would venture to guess that any future agreements that could result in international consensus would have to be very cognizant of that fact.
Tags: Tech Refactored Review
