TechCrunch by Devin Coldewey 5/15/2020
NASA’s ‘Artemis Accords’ set forth new and old rules for outer space cooperation
NASA’s plan to return to the Moon is ambitious enough on its own, but the agency is aiming to modernize international cooperation in space in the process. Today it published a summary of the “
Artemis Accords,†a new set of voluntary guidelines that partner nations and organizations are invited to join to advance the cause of exploration and industry globally.
Having no national affiliation or sovereignty of its own, space is by definition lawless. So these are not so much space laws as shared priorities given reasonably solid form. Many nations already take part in a variety of agreements and treaties, but the progress of space exploration (and soon, colonization and mining, among other things) has outpaced much of that structure.
A fresh coat of paint is overdue and NASA has decided to take up the brush.
The Artemis Accords both reiterate the importance of those old rules and conventions and introduce a handful of new ones. They are only described in general today, as the specifics will likely need to be hashed out in shared talks over months or years.
More:
https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/15/nasas-artemis-accords-set-forth-new-and-old-rules-for-outer-space-cooperation/
