THE ARTEMIS ACCORDS

Though not authoritative international law, the 2020 Artemis Accords can be understood as representing an American-led effort to further develop international space law in the context of what is sometimes called the Space Race 2.0.

The Accords are a multilateral agreement between the United States and eight other countries: Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. It was drafted in anticipation of activities NASA intends to carry out as part of its Artemis Program.

Although the Accords do not constitute binding or authoritative international law, they set out a legal framework similar to - and explicitly building upon - the Outer Space Treaty as to the relational conduct of nations engaged in spacefaring activities.

The Accords’ more notable provisions call for scientific transparency and a commitment to “open sharing of scientific data” between parties; cooperation with respect to the registration of “space objects”; and a commitment to utilizing “current interoperability standards for space-based infrastructure”.

Perhaps the most notable Accords’ provisions are those regarding commercial space activities. Those provisions appear to directly contradict provisions of the Outer Space Treaty and the Moon Agreement applicable to the appropriation of space resources, presumably reflecting American and US-aligned nations’ commercial space industry ambitions.

What is the law regarding commercial space tourism? ->