Introduction
The Outer Space Treaty, signed in 1967 at the height of the First Space Age, declares that there can be no claim for sovereignty in space; no nation can “own” space, the Moon or any other body. There has been a rapid expansion of investment and technological advances in outer space mapping of mineral resources by national governments and increasingly by private companies. The rapid development of satellites, space vessels, and tools for resource extraction has set the stage for increased tensions during this Second Space Age (Prindle Institute).
This April, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) published the world’s first high-definition lunar geological atlas, with a scale of 1:25 million, providing basic map data for future lunar research and exploration. The CAS announced that this research was also intended for selecting the site for a future lunar research station and utilizing lunar resources. This atlas demonstrates increased global interest in mining lunar resources, and also merits a reflection on ethical and environmental concerns. It also expands human awareness and knowledge of the lunar surface to a level never seen before, demarcating it further as a territory to be mapped rather than thousands of years of human life seeing it as a distant orb and an object of spiritual and religious fascination since ancient times.
As technology progresses during this Second Space Age, there are a plethora of ethical concerns with the expansion of human ambitions over territorial control on the Moon. The Outer Space Treaty states that signatory nations are each responsible for their activities, including through private commercial entities. It also declares that nations are responsible for the damage caused by their space objects and must avoid contaminating space and celestial bodies. This treaty lays the foundation for the ethical responsibilities of this rapidly evolving technology and expanding knowledge of the lunar surface. It also reflects an understanding of outer space from 60 years ago, and as developments race forward in science, technology, and engineering, these agreed-upon tenets are facing ethical strain.
Overview
This essay begins with evaluating the current state of lunar mining, touching upon current lunar missions and natural resources of interest, as well as how lunar mining is posited as a possible solution to avoid further environmental destruction and pollution on Earth. This section details the current proposals for commercialization of lunar resources and assesses the financial burden of lunar resource extraction and inequities in accessing any future resources, as wealthy, powerful countries disproportionately lead the Second Space Age and tensions are emerging around the “bordering” which could occur on the Moon in this new Space Race of exploration of the lunar surface.
Secondly, this piece elaborates on issues between states regarding lunar transportation and communication. This section evaluates the ban of weapons in space in the face of rapid technological developments, troubles with lunar communications, the proposed creation of a lunar time zone, and the push for transformation of outer space rules and regulations.
While mining, transportation, and communication are all logistical concerns, there remains the big ethical question of if humanity should colonize the moon. The last point of this piece, from a different angle, thinks about the weight of its cultural significance for human and more-than-human life worldwide, current discussion on how to preserve the Moon, and research on safeguarding its ecology. Lunar territorial expansion by states is an ethical dilemma even if there is no animal or plant life on the Moon, as the Moon plays a leading role in the fundamental rhythms of Earth and is a priceless, indispensable part of terrestrial life. The prospect of tampering with it speaks to deeper fractures in our ethical understandings.
Lunar Mining
Countries including the U.S., Russia, and China and private companies such as iSpace, Astrobotic and a handful of others have announced missions to go to the moon. The main reason these countries want to go to the moon is to mine natural resources such as water and metals such as iron, titanium and uranium. An example is water which is found frozen in craters which can be used for drinking and also used as a hydrogen-based rocket propellant! Rare Earth metals (metals are are found in low concentrations) are another valuable natural resource such as neodymium which is used in magnets. Another rare earth metal is helium-3, which can be used to produce energy. An Apollo 17 astronaut, Harrison Schmitt, wrote in his book Return to the Moon on the subject of returning to the moon in order to mine helium-3. These resources are potentially relevant because the resources of the Earth are depleting. It takes thousands if not, millions of years for these metals to regenerate. As resources deplete, many countries are turning to the moon as the next mission for getting resources, to sustain their lifestyles and economies.
Figure 1 An artificially colored mosaic constructed from a series of 53 images taken through three spectral filters by Galileo’s imaging system as the spacecraft flew over the northern regions of the Moon on 7 December 1992. The colors indicate different materials. (NASA)
These concerns arise because the natural resources and fossil fuels on Earth have been depleting and are finite, which have led to negative social and environmental consequences and have revealed immense disparities in health risks due to their extraction. This can be seen in the dispute over the pipeline made on Native American land in the United States, the use of child labor to mine for cobalt used in electric vehicles, and the destruction of habitats in the Amazon for illicit mining. When we mine minerals and extract resources, air, water, and land pollution expand and greenhouse gas emissions increase, which directly harm our environment. Even though the need for coal is decreasing in many high-income countries due to the Green Energy Transition, the need for copper and rare earth metals is increasing with a wide range of technologies, including solar panels, electric vehicles, smartphones, and computers, requiring mineral extraction. Turning to lunar mining is seen as a possible future solution to not mine the resources of Earth and cause further environmental damage. Countries are in geopolitical tension during this Second Space Age, with innovations in outer space mapping and technologies for lunar transportation and communication advancing, and large private companies such as SpaceX advancing their claims to lunar missions and research.
The ethical concerns are not halting further work on the development of lunar business models based upon resource extractivism. An article published by NASA details how they would go about lunar mining for commercial production. There are 4 steps: exploration, development, production, and remediation. The exploration phase is high risk because it requires a lot of money and no returns as of yet. This phase mostly consists of mapping for site selections as well seeing if the mining technology is ready for the development phase. The development phase covers studies, contracts and other finances, and legal bindings. From there, the production phase is where they begin the mining process. The remediation phase is where the mining operations draw to a halt, so it doesn’t damage lunar environments. These protocols set the stage for further lunar commercialization, but this is limited to exclusive state and corporate stakeholders.
Figure 2. Statistics of how much each country spent on their space programs in 2022 and 2023. (Statista)
With the potential riches of the moon, companies are now investing for the opportunity to explore Mars. Many lunar miners would find rare minerals on the Moon, however, it’s a more sustainable idea to recycle the metals we have on Earth rather than spending a lot of resources and time mining the moon. According to this Cosmos Magazine article, to get one kilogram of Moon resources would cost about 1.5 million dollars. Mining the resources on Earth is far less expensive. Instead of dealing with the abuse of workers and residents of the land and treating them fairly, companies and countries have turned to the moon. According to this statistic, the U.S. spent 73 billion dollars on NASA in 2023, followed by China with 14.4 billion dollars spent on the China National Space Administration (CNSA). NASA has partnered with 11 companies to make exploration technology.
Lunar Transportation and Communication
There are ongoing issues with the logistics of planned lunar transportation and communication. The moon has 1/6th the amount of gravity than the Earth. This difference can negatively affect the security of people and equipment and create disputes between countries. There is a dilemma on what if one nation’s equipment clashes with another nation’s equipment and who would be responsible for the damage. While international treaties, such as the Outer Space Treaty and the Moon Agreement of 1984, ban the use of weapons of mass destruction, concerns of warfare in space are a bit troubling such as the destruction of GPS networks according to an article by The Guardian. The Chinese have designed grappling arms which are capable of moving satellites in orbit. Destroying satellites and GPS networks could risk the lives of astronauts and infrastructure of a nation. This raises the question on if this would be the start of lunar conflicts between nations and most importantly, how we can resolve this.
Another issue is lunar communication, understanding how countries interact with each other and amongst themselves while on the moon. Communication devices may be jammed because of accidental interferences from other countries. This points to a broader issue: as more countries venture into lunar exploration, establishing common protocols like those used in diplomatic exchanges on Earth Is crucial. One example is the issue of time zones since there is not currently a lunar time zone. Currently, the recorded time of the moon coincides with the time with the nation that launched the mission. With plans for the U.S. and China to increasingly send people to the moon in the next 10 years, the need for a lunar time zone is greater than before.
Figure 3. Map of the countries involved. Blue is Parties, Yellow is Signatories and red is non-parties. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Space_Treaty
These rapid advances in lunar transportation and technology reinforce the need for rules and regulations before conflicts get out of hand. The current laws governing space were written during the first Space Age, which was over 60 years ago. These outdated laws don’t take into account the current technologies we have and the geopolitical situations in different countries. NASA expressed concern with the potential destructiveness of lunar dust. According to astronaut Eugene Cernan, who called moon dust “one of the most aggravating restricting facets of the lunar surface.” The moon is covered with fine dust and small fragments called regolith, which can puncture space equipment. This concern had NASA set recommendations for all space-faring entities. In June 2022, the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space or COPUOS for short, formed the Working Group on Legal Aspects of Space Resource Activities whose purpose is to develop and recommend ways on exploring and utilizing space resources. COPUOS is currently working on a 5-year plan on assessing the current legal framework of the governance of space instruments.
Figure 4. NASA Concept art of the Artemis III Mission, where astronauts will explore the moon’s South Pole. https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-iii/
Lunar Ecology and Culture
Figure 5. Sun Wukong fights the Moon Rabbit, a scene in the sixteenth century Chinese novel, Journey to the West, depicted in Yoshitoshi’s One Hundred Aspects of the Moon (https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_14440/?sp=4)
The moon is responsible for our tidal waves and the production of light on Earth at night. It’s also culturally significant because many cultures follow the lunar calendar which is based on moon phases. Recently, people have developed the idea that mining the moon for resources would be a way forward for humanity. Some even see exploring the moon as a stepping-stone to explore Mars. However, this raises many ethical concerns.
Another issue is the ecology of the moon. If humanity mines natural resources, the environment of the moon would be affected significantly along with the cultural significance that the moon holds to many cultures throughout the world. There are even cave paintings of the moon from the Ice Age. In ancient Mayan, Aztec and Asian cultures, it’s said to believe that the moon looks like a rabbit. Other cultures believe that it looks like a toad or a woman. The most important thing is that the moon plays an central spiritual role in all these cultures.
One proposed solution on keeping the cultural and ecological aspect is having land reserves on the moon. It goes through a scientific lens by seeing ‘a picture of how healthy land maintains itself’. It gives scientists a time capsule to the natural ecology and how the environment is at its natural state. Even without flora and fauna, the moon still has a baseline ecology. Keeping some baseline ecology can help scientists study in the future on how human interference can affect the ecology.
Conclusion
Since the first human landing on the moon, in 1969, humanity has since pushed the boundaries of what’s possible with space exploration. With many countries and companies wanting to be the first to do lunar mining, there are many tensions and older treaties being challenged. Different countries are at odds in their race to make claims to lunar extractivism first. However, the laws of space are different from the laws on Earth. The laws inherited from the First Space Age have set an ethical framework based on the idea that no one can claim the Moon. They are being challenged with the rapid advances in science, technology, and engineering that are providing stronger evidence of geological resources as well as increased capacity to reach them through transportation, communication, and extractive machinery innovations. With cooperation, humanity has a chance to navigate and potentially settle on the moon, within the framework of viewing the moon as an economic opportunity to explore and offset ecological devastation on Earth.
The moon has always held a profound cultural, spiritual, and religious significance to life on Earth, and the utilitarian viewpoint as an extractive resource goes against these ancient beliefs of communities all over the world. This ethical contradiction is at the heart of the expansion of this lunar research. As we continue into this Second Space Age, it’s important to note that it’s important to keep the ecology of the moon intact, even if there are no living organisms on the moon. The efforts to claim heavenly bodies such as the Moon in order to mine them for the economic benefit of powerful nations draws into question our fundamental beliefs as human beings of our role and place in the universe.
Sources:
American Indian | Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access Pipeline
American Scientist | Mining the Moon
Cosmos Magazine | Mining the moon: do we have the right?
Earth.Org | The Environmental Problems Caused by Mining
Forbes | Battery Push By Tesla And Other EV Makers Raises Child Labor Concerns
German Aerospace Center | Lunar water for drinking and rocket propellant.
Prindle Institute | Ethical Dilemmas in Lunar Mining and Colonization.
Scientific American | A New Private Moon Race Kicks Off Soon
Space.com | With space agencies racing to the moon, scientists are making a lunar ‘time zone’
