In an interview with Jornal Comunidades Lusófonas, the Director of ONUOOSA (United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs), Ms Aarti Holla-Maini, said that the media like to portray each new mission as a demonstration of a race to the Moon and each “success” or “failure” in landing as a step towards winning or losing that race. “Maybe it’s an interesting read”, but when you get involved with real “actors” in their missions, you realize that there is much more to these missions than just wanting to win a race.
“The media like to portray every new mission as demonstrative of a race to the moon and every ‘success’ or ‘failure’ to land as a step towards winning or losing that race”. Said the Director. Maybe that makes interesting reading but when you engage with the real players on their missions, “you realise that there is a lot more to these missions than just wanting to win a race.”
“I recently discussed with China and their various partners on their latest Chang-e 6 mission.” There were many objectives but the key themes that resonated were science and collaboration. There were four complex, international payloads – 3 from Europe and 1 Asian so there were many countries with vested interests in this mission and the samples the mission may return – the first ever from the far side of the moon – will be shared with researchers from around the world, including potentially with their ‘competitors’ as is already in progress with Chang-e 5 samples.
From this example, “we see that whether there is a Space Race or not is immaterial to the fact that despite political ideologies, very different countries can and do come together to cooperate on scientific missions. I don’t know if they would do so if this was really a race.”
More accurate would perhaps be a Space Marathon, because space exploration is a long-term endeavor or maybe like a “relay race”, where we are a team and we build on each other’s success.
At the end of the day, space remains first and foremost a global common and its services, data and technologies are used daily to improve our lives. While space missions are always a source of national pride, that should not be confused with a race. Rather than a race, motivations may be driven by strategic interests, and again to characterize that as a race may be to oversimplify it.
For corporates, the story may be different as companies have profit as their mission and they are identifying new commercial opportunities in space. But for the moment, it is still Member States that set the tone for moon missions within the framework set by the Outer Space Treaty of 1967. In parallel, they continue their discussions to find consensus within COPUOS, the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. Progress may be slow and at times tough, but it’s happening and continues to be successful.
Recent examples include agreement on the Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines, the Guidelines for the Long-Term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities, the Space 2030 Agenda, and work continues in a Working Group on the Legal Aspects of Space Resource Activities and by delegations to establish an Action Team on Lunar Activities Consultation.
There is much to be hopeful about, and there is room for greater collaboration, such as the upcoming the UN Conference on Sustainable Lunar Activities, hosted by UNOOSA in Vienna on Tuesday 18 June, 2024.
What measures does the United Nations intend to take to address the polution of the outer space?
Multiple UN entities address the issue of ocean pollution and space technology is often used to support monitoring and clean-up activities. Earth observation data, especially radar imagery including from satellites, that is becoming easier to access through the UN, is constantly used to identify oil leaks, track oil pollution and document pollution cases for compensation and clean-up. Many developing countries rely on data access facilitated by the United Nations to undertake such monitoring, as the cost of very high-resolution ‘actionable’ imagery remains high, and many significant pollution events are observed and mapped using emergency response mechanisms set up under the umbrella of the United Nations that provide satellite imagery and analysis at no cost to the affected countries.
Just as the UN plays a crucial role in helping resolve cross-border issues like ocean pollution and climate change, similarly UN Member States recognise the need to find consensus on how to clean up space. In 2024, COPUOS saw technical presentations from companies involved in Active Debris Removal (ADR) and a first workshop with Member States hearing on how guidelines for a license for ADR were developed in Japan, home to Astroscale, the world’s first ADR company. This discussion will evolve as it is needed to scale and accelerate progress in this crucial field.
How does the United Nations plan to remove trash from space?
The UN has no clear mandate to engage in operational activities to remove space debris, but we do have a unique convening power in COPUOS to bring Member States and relevant stakeholders together to share information on latest technological developments and discuss potential norms and guidelines around ADR and other important topics.
It is our hope, and the hope of the Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a policy brief issued ahead of the Summit of the Future this September, that norms and principles on ADR can and will be agreed upon by the international community through COPUOS. Space sustainability is an area that bridges geopolitical differences and is of deep importance for all nations.
After agreeing 21 LTS guidelines in 2019, the COPUOS Working Group on the Long-Term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities is currently considering new issues, such as ADR, where guidelines could be agreed upon.
A number of countries have shared their perspectives on what an ADR Mission would look like in practice, and other countries are looking at incentive-based approaches to regulation, such as subsidising the cost of insurance if space systems are more sustainable by design. These national approaches can stimulate technological innovation and could create an international market for ADR and end-of-life servicing.
“We also maintain the UN Register of Objects Launched into Outer Space, which helps us understand who owns satellites in space, liability in the event of an incident. We believe that registration underpins all future ADR and in-orbit servicing and manufacturing missions.”
, Ms Aarti Holla-Maini, said that the media like to portray each new mission as a demonstration of a race to the Moon and each “success” or “failure” in landing as a step towards winning or losing that race.){kind=link}