The Russian government recently gave the green light to state-owned Roscosmos to enter into a long-delayed agreement with NASA for cosmonauts to fly on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsules in exchange for astronauts joining Russian Soyuz crews.
by Dr. Ruwantissa Abeyratne in Montreal
"I fear our world is creeping towards two different sets of economic, trade, financial, and technology rules, two divergent approaches in the development of artificial intelligence, — and ultimately, two different military and geopolitical strategies." ~ Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations
These days, with all the hullabaloo about the geo-political players in the world tearing at each others’ throats and trying to destroy one another with revanchism, populism, and scaremongering about territorial expansion, one tends to forget that there is paradoxically a United Nations body called Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS). Even more encouraging and up-beat is that the International Space Station (ISS), which exemplifies international cooperation and partnership between the major space faring countries was launched in 1998 and has since continued to be a beacon of international cooperation for over 20 years, sharing many benefits with the nations of the world. The space agencies cooperating in this noble venture, providing and operating the ISS are from the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, and the participating countries of the European Space Agency.
An important milestone in the peaceful exploration of outer space is the Artemis Accords, which stem from the Artemis Programme (AP) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). These Accords were entered into in October 2020 establishing principles that were calculated to guide space cooperation among countries participating in AP. One of the objectives of AP is to see NASA land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon. The tour de force of AP and the Accords is the pursuit of creating a safe and transparent environment which facilitates exploration, science, and commercial activities for all nations of the world to benefit from.
In pursuit of the policy of the United States - of working with international partners “to strengthen peaceful international space cooperation for the benefit of all humankind” - NASA works closely with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the wider international space community via COPUOS, and COPUOS’s Subcommittees, which have made signal contributions towards promoting international cooperation in support of the peaceful uses of outer space for all. In December 2020, NASA and UNOOSA signed an historic memorandum of understanding (MoU), expanding and enhancing the longstanding relationship between the United States and the United Nations in outer space affairs.
Russia too has shown a spirit of cooperation in furthering peace in outer space. The Russian government recently gave the green light to state-owned Roscosmos to enter into a long-delayed agreement with NASA for cosmonauts to fly on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsules in exchange for astronauts joining Russian Soyuz crews. The agreement ensures that ISS is staffed by at least one crewmember from each country in the contingency of a technical issue or a medical emergency disrupting either country’s processes of transporting crew.
There appeared a snag when a pernicious row started showing ominous signs disrupting this extra-terrestrial unity by bringing to bear the perfidy of politics and warfare on terra firma. In May 2022 Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin is reported to have said that the agreement was delayed due to the objection by Russian agencies to a crew-seat swap against the backdrop of deteriorating geo-political relations with the U.S. brought to bear by Russia’s military operation in Ukraine . However, happily, Aviation Week of 12 June 2022 reported: “the Russian government has cleared state-owned Roscosmos to sign a long-delayed agreement with NASA for cosmonauts to fly on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsules in exchange for astronauts joining Russian Soyuz crews”.
The European Space Agency (ESA) - an intergovernmental organisation comprised of and governed by its 22 Member States – which has established and continues to foster a strong network of international cooperation over manty years, serving the European and global space community implementing numerous successful programmes - issued a statement on 28 February 2022: “ [W]e are fully implementing sanctions imposed on Russia by our Member States. We are assessing the consequences on each of our ongoing programmes conducted in cooperation with the Russian state space agency Roscosmos and align our decisions to the decisions of our Member States in close coordination with industrial and international partners (in particular with NASA on the International Space Station)”.
With regard to the Soyuz launch campaign from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, ESA has stated that ESA member States have noted the decision of Roscosmos to withdraw its workforce from Kourou. In this regard ESA intends to “consequently assess for each European institutional payload under our responsibility the appropriate launch service based notably on launch systems currently in operation and the upcoming Vega-C and Ariane 6 launchers”.
ESA has further asseverated that it would continue to monitor the situation in close contact with its Members States while “ending further cooperation with Russia on lunar science missions, turning to Nasa and commercial providers to launch key technologies”.
Despite all this, cosmopolitics still bring with it a modicum of hope. This is exemplified by the sanguine approach of NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, who, in response to a statement ascribed to Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin that “the United States would have to use broomsticks to fly to space after Russia said it would stop supplying rocket engines to U.S. companies” is reported to have said “[T]hat’s just Dmitry Rogozin. He spouts off every now and then. But at the end of the day, he's worked with us,. …the other people that work in the Russian civilian space program, they're professional. They don't miss a beat with us, American astronauts, and American mission control."
It must be remembered that exploration of outer space is not just an exercise in fun as some might surmise, considering the enthusiasm for space tourism and sub orbital flights. With 4500 satellites in outer space giving vital information to the ground that benefits all nations, international partnerships in outer space activities must necessarily be maintained irrespective of turf wars on the ground. The use of information technology is arguably the foremost compelling force responsible for the unity of human space activities It is therefore inevitable that information technology, computer law and the laws pertaining to State and individual responsibility are inextricably intertwined in a net of legal issues which have already emerged in the current millennium bringing together all nations in the world to address such critical issues as global climate change which know no borders.
It must also be noted that cosmopolitics is entrenched in Article 1 of the Outer Space Treaty (Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies) of 1967 which provides that the exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, must be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development, and must be the province of all mankind. It goes on to say that outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, must also be free for exploration and use by all States without discrimination of any kind, on a basis of equality and in accordance with international law, and there will be free access to all areas of celestial bodies.
Furthermore, Article 1 provides that there must be freedom of scientific investigation in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, and States are required to facilitate and encourage international co-operation in such investigation.
The more challenging provision in the Treaty is Article 2 which prescribes that outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means. This effectively precludes a State from appropriating a celestial body inter alia by use.
This legal principle, that outer space exploration must benefit all of humanity, is the glue that has kept international partnerships in space together. However, the increasingly rapid proliferation of space activities in the coming years and their diversity leave no room for doubt that new laws will have to be put into place and new mechanisms to combat problems will have to be carefully though if only to prevent us from annihilating one another.
Dr. Abeyratne is the author of numerous works on aerospace law, including Frontiers of Aerospace Law, (Ashgate: 2002).
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