At round 6 pm IST on August 23, 2023, the Vikram lander of the Chandrayaan-3 mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) gently touched down on the moon. Thus, India grew to become solely the fourth nation with a nationwide area company that had executed a managed lunar touchdown. In honour of the event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi designated August 23 as National Space Day.
From mythology to lullabies, from spiritual symbols to Bollywood, desires of constructing properties on the moon have lengthy been a part of Indians’ inside worlds. Today, these desires are coming to life — not as poetry however by means of area missions, billion-dollar mining ventures, and authorized clauses. Suddenly, a really human query arises: who gets to own the moon?
A foundational regulation
The bedrock of area regulation is the Outer Space Treaty (OST), signed at the top of the Cold War in 1967. Article I of the treaty declares that “the exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries … and shall be the province of all mankind.”
Article II goes additional, prohibiting “national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.”
In idea, this creates a commons-like standing for the moon, a useful resource to be shared fairly than owned.
However, whereas the OST bars nationwide sovereignty over lunar territory, it is silent on the extraction of assets. This has given rise to competing interpretations: the extraction and personal utilisation of assets are permissible so long as they don’t represent a territorial declare, and allowing such actions violates the spirit of the treaty and dangers undermining the precept of non-appropriation.
Unpopular ideally suited
To tackle these gaps, the 1984 Moon Agreement proposed that lunar assets be the “common heritage of mankind,” akin to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea. It referred to as for equitable benefit-sharing and worldwide regulation. Article 11 states: “States Parties to this Agreement hereby undertake to establish an international regime, including appropriate procedures, to govern the exploitation of the natural resources of the Moon as such exploitation is about to become feasible.”
The Moon Agreement failed to achieve traction, nevertheless. Only 17 international locations have ratified it to date, none of that are main spacefaring nations, together with the U.S., China, Russia, and India. Its provisions are obscure, idealistic, and economically unviable. The absence of enforcement mechanisms and the lack of incentives for personal firms additional diminish their effectiveness.
New authorized paradigm
Launched by the U.S. in 2020, the Artemis Accords characterize a set of non-binding bilateral agreements that define ideas for peaceable, clear, and cooperative area exploration. These embody commitments to interoperability, emergency help, and the accountable extraction and use of area assets.
Notably, the Accords assert that useful resource extraction doesn’t represent nationwide appropriation — a place that seeks to navigate the restrictions of Article II of the OST. As of mid-2025, 55 international locations had signed the Accords. However, China and Russia stay outdoors the framework and are collectively creating an International Lunar Research Station, a parallel initiative that displays a competing imaginative and prescient for lunar governance.
While the Artemis Accords will not be legally binding, their standing as “soft law” permits them to form worldwide norms and expectations. Critics, nevertheless, have additionally argued that its provisions like “safety zones” could lead on to de facto territorial claims, probably undermining the OST’s foundational ideas of non-appropriation and shared entry.
First come, first serve?
The shift from the moon as a shared heritage to the moon as a aggressive enviornment raises considerations about whether or not we’re getting into a “first come, first serve” period of lunar exploration. NASA’s Artemis programme, together with upcoming missions involving SpaceX and Blue Origin, has plans to set up a sustained human presence close to the lunar south pole, a area believed to harbour huge quantities of water ice.
Water ice is a scientific curiosity and a possible gasoline supply. Through electrolysis, water may be break up into hydrogen and oxygen, which may energy rockets or maintain life assist methods. The means to produce gasoline in area may dramatically cut back the value and complexity of deep-space missions. For firms and international locations eyeing Mars, the moon is not a vacation spot: it is a refuelling cease.
Private firms resembling Intuitive Machines, Astrobotic, and that iSpace have launched robotic missions to the moon, marking a brand new period in business lunar exploration.
In February 2024, Intuitive Machines grew to become the first non-public firm to efficiently land a spacecraft, its Nova-C lander Odysseus, on the lunar floor as a part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services programme. Astrobotic tried an analogous mission in January 2024 with its Peregrine lander however a gasoline leak rendered the mission abortive. Japan’s iSpace launched its Hakuto-R Mission 1 in 2022, which additionally failed to land however demonstrated important technical progress.
These missions, pushed by each scientific and business objectives, mirror a strategic push to set up an early presence, form lunar infrastructure, and affect the future governance of area assets.
India’s lunar technique
With its Chandrayaan missions and the upcoming Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme, India has established itself as a rising area energy. Its signing of the Artemis Accords in June 2023 signalled a dedication to transparency and sustainable area exploration. Then once more, signing the Accords is not the identical as direct participation in NASA’s Artemis missions, which permits international locations to assist shared ideas with out instant operational involvement.
Traditionally, India has championed multilateralism and the peaceable use of outer area, aligning extra with the “common heritage” precept than the “first come, first serve” mannequin. On one hand, India is well-positioned to bridge the competing blocs and push for a extra inclusive, U.N.-based governance framework. On the different, it should stay vigilant to guarantee its pursuits will not be diluted as new norms emerge by means of bilateral practices and gentle regulation.
India thus has a pivotal position to play. With its technological capabilities, authorized credibility, and deep-rooted dedication to peaceable area exploration, it will possibly advocate for a center path, one which promotes entry, fairness, and sustainability.
New guidelines wanted
As humankind prepares to return to the moon, not as vacationers however as settlers, miners, and even perhaps rivals, the authorized panorama governing our nearest celestial neighbour is quickly shifting. The moon, lengthy a logo of unity and marvel, is turning into a check case for a way we handle our growth into the cosmos.
The monopolisation of assets by a couple of technologically superior actors may widen world inequalities, echoing acquainted patterns from the earth’s historical past.
In this quiet however consequential authorized race above our heads, the query is not simply who owns the moon. It is whether or not we will nonetheless be taught to share it earlier than it is too late.
Shrawani Shagun is a researcher specializing in environmental sustainability and area governance.
