July 2019
Who owns outer space?
..., without ‘the big three’ space-faring nations - the US, Russia and China - the legal force of the Moon Agreement is greatly weakened, leading some legal scholars to refer to it as a ‘failed treaty’. If the ‘common heritage’ principle was applied...
May 2018
Taxation of outer space: a next step for space exploration?
... space legislation clearly states the important principles of rule of law (including future law regime in Article 11 of the Moon agreement) and peaceful uses of space. We are living in exciting times but great times carry enormous responsibility. One...
May 2018
Why national space laws on the exploitation of resources of celestial bodies contradict international law
... an asteroid mining mission to an Earth-approaching asteroid. And we have very clear attempts for such regulation. The Moon Agreement of 1979, which has, however, been ratified by only 17 states, had made the attempt to derive the establishment...
October 2020
Is NASA’s Artemis Accords agreement Moon-proof?
...ISS) has been underpinned by an inter-governmental agreement reached in 1988. This was the last major agreement in outer space after the abortive Moon Agreement of 1979 and represented a single agreement between 14 sovereign countries - the US, Japan...
August 2021
Collision avoidance – time for agreement on space sustainability
... and other Celestial Bodies”) was promoted in 1979, states were reluctant to sign up. Article 11 of the Moon Agreement declares that the Moon and its natural resources are the common heritage of mankind (a principle which has several interpretations...
July 2021
A shared vision for space exploration
... objection by any member), and achieving this level of agreement is difficult and time-consuming. Also, for issues where... (such as Australia) who were parties to the Moon Agreement, which sets out additional obligations beyond those applicable to...
