{"id":2829,"date":"2020-07-17T13:33:48","date_gmt":"2020-07-17T17:33:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/?p=2829"},"modified":"2020-07-17T13:33:48","modified_gmt":"2020-07-17T17:33:48","slug":"the-artemis-accords-as-a-model-for-space-settlement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/groundbasedspacematters.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/17\/the-artemis-accords-as-a-model-for-space-settlement\/","title":{"rendered":"The Artemis Accords as a Model for Space Settlement"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was on a panel last week on whether and how NASA’s Artemis Accords<\/a> should serve as a model for future space settlement.\u00a0 It was an interesting discussion, and you can watch a recording of it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

First, what are the Artemis Accords?\u00a0 The accords are a set of proposals from NASA to its international partners to agree on how they’ll work together in going back to the Moon.\u00a0 The proposals cover such prosaic matters as interoperability, urgent issues such as space debris, and the most sublime, that we shall use space for peaceful purposes. The accords constitute NASA’s attempt to implement some of the very general principles in the outer space treaties when returning people to the moon.<\/p>\n

Given that the accords will apply to people going to the Moon, should we look to them as models for future space settlement?\u00a0 I think that they may serve as a fine checklist for issues to address, but many of the principles NASA articulates are better suited to government agencies than the private sector, and it looks as if the private sector will be the likely driver for actual settlement.<\/p>\n

So, how would the accords work if applied to the private sector?\u00a0 Two look problematic, and one looks close to helpful.<\/p>\n

Transparency<\/strong>.\u00a0 The accords say that:\u00a0 “Transparency is a key principle for responsible civil space exploration and NASA has always taken care to publicly describe its policies and plans.\u00a0 Artemis Accords partner nations will be required to uphold this principle by publicly describing their own policies and plans in a transparent manner.”<\/p>\n

This is a great admonition for government agencies such as NASA or the European Space Agency.\u00a0 The citizenry is paying for the agency’s activities.\u00a0 It’s nice for us to know what’s going on.\u00a0 It’s great for the science community, too, of course; and, it may help reduce conflict by alerting others to possible friction points.<\/p>\n

However, businesses have different interests.\u00a0 They have proprietary data, trade secrets, intellectual property, and other competitively sensitive information, such as their actual business plans.\u00a0 Sharing that information could result in competitive harm.\u00a0 Should a small business with a brilliant new idea be forced to give it up to better funded, more established companies?\u00a0 Should a miner who has, after years of searching, found a lode* of platinum group minerals have to tell everyone else where it is?\u00a0 Not if we want him incentivized to look, find, and mine it.<\/p>\n

Interoperability<\/strong>.\u00a0 The accords say: “Interoperability of systems is critical to ensure safe and robust space exploration.\u00a0 Therefore, the Artemis Accords call for partner nations to utilize open international standards, develop new standards when necessary, and strive to support interoperability to the greatest extent practical.”<\/p>\n

Interoperability makes sense for a group of government agencies planning to conduct operations together.\u00a0 But just because they work out how to mate their hardware for their first round of efforts, doesn’t mean that their decisions should be memorialized in regulations applicable to the private sector.\u00a0 Standards that evolve organically over time may work the best.\u00a0 They get tested in real world situations, their flaws uncovered, and they can change before being enshrined in regulations.\u00a0 There’s nothing more sad than an engineer staring at you saying, “Why do I have to do it that way?\u00a0 The people who came up with that had never tried it before.\u00a0 They learned from their mistakes.\u00a0 So should we.\u00a0 Why is it mandatory now?”\u00a0 It’s something about the eyes.\u00a0 Engineers do sad eyes well.<\/p>\n

Space resources<\/strong>.\u00a0 The accords say:\u00a0 “The ability to extract and utilize resources on the Moon, Mars, and asteroids will be critical to support safe and sustainable space exploration and development.\u00a0 The Artemis Accords reinforce that space resource extraction and utilization can and will be conducted under the auspices of the Outer Space Treaty, with specific emphasis on Articles II, VI, and XI.”<\/p>\n

In 2015 Congress recognized the right<\/a> of U.S. companies to extract resources from outer space, including celestial bodies.\u00a0 More recently, the President reiterated strong support<\/a> for that right.\u00a0 Legal certainty about being able to reap the rewards of one’s investments and labors should encourage private activity in space, the development of space resources and technologies, and private investment.\u00a0 Reaffirming such principles can only help make space settlement happen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*I don’t know if “lode” is the correct term here, especially for minerals that may appear in deposits around craters.\u00a0 See, Moonrush<\/a>, Wingo, D.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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