Legal issues of a Moon-village: from the application of current space law to the new challenges of international cooperation

Paper number

IAC-16,E7,1,4,x34223

Coauthor

Mr. PETROS Eloi, IDEST, University Paris Sud, France

Year

2016

Abstract

The International Space Station (ISS) is a masterpiece of engineering and international cooperation. As the program is getting to an end, probably in 2024, space agencies are looking for new ambitious projects to follow it. Johann-Dietrich Wörner, the Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA), recurrently declared that building a permanent base on the surface of the Moon, a “Moon-village”, could be a similarly ambitious undertaking to succeed the ISS. 

This article will assess the legal issues that such a project uncovers and will identify the answers the current legal framework, and especially the international space treaties, provides. 

In that regard, this article will deal with a broad range of space law aspects, such as environment (the protection of the lunar environment and the application of the international environmental law), moon's resources exploitation or liability (in the event of a launch from the moon).

It will then focus on the challenges facing an international cooperation in such a project. The construction of a ‘Moon-village’ will raise new prospects for space cooperation that will differ from the ISS legal framework, as it will include new actors such as countries that are not in States Partners of the ISS. Moreover, it may give to private sector an unprecedent role.

Abstract document

IAC-16,E7,1,4,x34223.brief.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-16,E7,1,4,x34223.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.