A private firm’s $5,000 deal to mine moon dust for Nasa has raised questions about which countries own the Earth’s neighbour
A small Japanese spacecraft will launch and embark on a three-month journey to land on the Moon at the end of the month.
Although the mission has gone largely under the radar, it is set to usher in an entirely new era of space use, marking the first time that a private company has done business on the lunar surface.
The company, Ispace, will be collecting regolith – the grey sandy Moon dust which covers the surface of the satellite – and selling it to Nasa.
Although the contract is for a nominal $5,000 (£4,200), it will be the first business transaction ever to take place off-Earth.
The mission raises important questions about who owns the Moon, or any other space resource, and who should be allowed to exploit it.
Last year, Japan passed a law granting Japanese companies permission to prospect for, extract and use various space resources. Last week, it granted Ispace a licence to conduct business activity on the Moon.
Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s space policy minister, said: “If Ispace transfers ownership of lunar resources to Nasa in accordance with its plan, it will be the first case in the world of commercial transactions of space resources on the Moon by a private operator.
“This will be a groundbreaking first step toward the establishment of commercial space exploration by private operators.”
The US signed a similar law under Barack Obama in 2015, giving American companies the right to the resources they extract, while Luxembourg and the United Arab Emirates have since passed similar legislation.
However, some countries, such as Russia, are uncomfortable with what they see as a land grab by individual countries, and have called for international regulations rather than national laws.
Even before the war with Ukraine, which has left the country struggling as a space power, Dmitry Rogozin, the director general of Roscosmos, stated: “Russia believes that states mustn’t adopt any laws and regulations on a unilateral basis because space is our common heritage and belongs to everyone.”
Space law experts are watching the mission closely as it is likely to set a precedent for the future of mining on the lunar surface.
Christopher Newman, a professor of space law and policy at Northumbria University, said: “Space utilisation is one of the hot areas of space law at the moment.
“What we got currently is an ad hoc sort of situation where national legislatures are passing their own laws, and I think the US and Japan will be eager to establish a precedent here in what they can carry out commercially.
“I think there needs to be international guidelines on this because if we address this correctly now, it will solve many problems in terms of future security and conflict, and what the world does not need right now is more conflict.”
He added: “Traditionally, space law stems from the United Nations, and that would give it some legitimacy. Even if it’s to some huge international treaty, a commitment to collaboration between countries and commercial stakeholders. would be helpful.”
Current space law is vague about the exploitation of resources. The UN’s 1966 Outer Space Treaty states that “outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means”.
In addition, its 1979 Moon Treaty called for “the orderly and safe use of the natural lunar resources with an equitable sharing by all state parties in the benefits derived from those resources”.
Nasa’s Artemis Accords, signed by 21 countries including Britain, the US and Japan, but not Russia, endorsed the ability to extract and use space resources. It also called for the Outer Space Treaty to be unheld, making for a confusing situation.
The Ispace lander is hitching a ride on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket which is expected to launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Nov 22 barring any delays.
It is currently hurricane season in Florida, and Nasa’s Artemis Moon mission, which is due for a third launch attempt next week, is also facing an anxious wait.
If successful, the lander is due to touch down at Lacus Somniorum on the Moon’s north-eastern nearside next spring.
From there, the company will collect a small amount of regolith that accumulates on the footpad of the landing gear, photograph the collected Moon dust and conduct an “in-place” transfer of ownership to Nasa.
After ownership transfer, the collected material becomes the sole property of Nasa for the agency’s use under the Artemis programme which is seeking to send humans back to the Moon and establish a permanent presence there. Nasa has not yet confirmed whether it will be bringing the regolith back to Earth.
A second mission, due for launch in 2024, will include a rover to collect more regolith.
Takeshi Hakamada, the founder and chief executive of Ispace, said: “Commercial space resource utilisation is another step toward our goal of establishing the cislunar economy and will support Nasa’s goal of a long-term presence on the Moon.
“I sincerely welcome the collaboration between the public and private sectors to advance the exploration and development of space resources.”
We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.
We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.
Thank you for your support.
Need help?
Visit our adblocking instructions page.