We are pleased to announce that the Center for Air and Space Law at the University of Mississippi in association with the Centre for Aviation and Space Laws, West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences and Centre for Research in Air & Space Law, Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai will jointly host its Global Conference on ‘Resource Mining in the Outer Space: Artemis Accords and Beyond’ on 14th October 2023.
We look forward to meeting you and value your contribution to the ongoing success of this annual conference. The purpose of the Conference is to bring together scholars from India and abroad to interact, share ideas and build collegial networks which may facilitate dialogue and research collaborations.
We hope that this forum will be widely used to bring together collaborators in various projects. The Global Conference will be hosted online.
ABOUT THE THEME
The advent of resource mining in outer space and the introduction of the Artemis Accords, a non-binding multilateral agreement that enables mining on the Moon for scientific missions, has shaken the international arena. The Accords, drafted by the US Department of State and NASA, provide a structure for collaboration in civil exploration and peaceful use of the Moon, planet Mars, and various other celestial objects.
The Artemis plan seeks to create a permanent presence of Humans on the Moon and a lunar orbiting station known as the ‘Gateway’. The Artemis missions on the Moon will serve as a test bed for the first manned missions to Mars and beyond, ushering in a new phase in manned missions. The Artemis plan contemplates the utilisation of space resources to assure the long-term viability of human missions. For instance, mining the Moon’s soil and minerals for oxygen and hydrogen. The Artemis Accords will define a vision for the principles to build a secure and transparent environment conducive to exploration, science, and economic operations for the benefit of all humanity, which is based on the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. Over a dozen countries have signed the Artemis Accords with India being the most recent entrant.
The current space treaties lack the point of governance on the usage of space resources. They also do not forbid it. The 1967 Treaty of the UN is the most commonly used space legislation which states that governments cannot claim ownership of sections of the Moon or other space objects. The worldwide war over resource extraction on the Moon might be one possible source of strife.
International competition over resource mining in outer space may result in conflict among nations. The Artemis Accords states that resource mining on the Moon does not give exclusive property rights to any one nation to extract materials. However, the Accords are unenforceable and are merely an understanding among the nations. The Accords aims to address this issue by establishing “safety zones” in which governments are not permitted to meddle with the resource exploitation operations of other nations.
The Accords lack a clear system for determining which states receive certain territories. Furthermore, others criticise the Artemis Accords for being excessively US- centric and potentially resulting in unfavourable consequences for other countries, with China and Russia leading the charge.
In light of the these concerns as well as several others, it has become necessary to deliberate on the Artemis Accords and make necessary recommendations. This Global Conference is a perfect platform for such a discourse especially with the collaboration between the US and Indian universities.
This conference will focus on the following thematic areas:
- Artemis Accords in the Current International Space Law Framework
- Artemis Accords vis-a-vis Working Group on Space Resources
- Space Resource Utilization
- Preservation of Lunar Heritage
- Debris Disposal Framework
- Deconfliction of Activities and “Safety Zones”
- Registration Aspects
- Artemis Accords and India: Opportunities and challenges
- China and Russia’s Response to the Artemis Accords
For More Details Click HERE