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The Moon Village Association launches the Global Expert Group for Sustainable Lunar Activities
Press release from: Moon Village Association
Published: Monday 9 November 2020
The near future will see a multitude of moon missions thanks to the efforts of space agencies and commercial stakeholders. This concentrated lunar activity has brought with it the urgency of agreeing on a level playing field by clarifying existing principles of international law that will help in their implementation. The vagueness of the space treaties poses a challenge for future missions and could lead to conflicts, especially between expeditions to the same side of the moon, such as the lunar south pole. Other issues need to be addressed to ensure sustainable lunar exploration and settlement, including, for example, mitigating the creation of debris in the lunar orbit and regulating access to lunar space resources.
Considering the above and with the aim of reducing the risk of future lunar missions and increasing global cooperation for lunar exploration and settlement, the MVA has initiated the definition of a common level playing field called “Best Practices for Sustainable Lunar Activities “. This was first published last March.
The positive feedback received from various space agencies has encouraged MVA to propose, being a neutral informal platform, the creation of a “Global Expert Group on Sustainable Lunar Activities” (GEGSLA).
The goal of GEGSLA is to hold informal discussions, on best practices or the like, and prepare material, in due course, to present the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Use of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS) of which MVA is an observer member, for further discussion and deliberation. GEGSLA will define voluntary standards related to Best Practices, or similar, as well as facilitate their implementation through specific actions, i.e. definition of interoperability, mitigation of debris in the guidelines of the lunar orbit, etc.
GEGSLA will be an informal multilateral forum that will involve experts from space agencies, as well as other interested parties such as representatives of industry and academia. The composition of GEGSLA will be derived from a Call for Participation which will be published by MVA in December. GEGSLA activities are expected to start in early 2021, with the first results available by March 2022.
GLESLA’s work promises to help reduce the risk of future lunar activities and increase global cooperation by involving as many stakeholders as possible.
Giuseppe Reibaldi, President of the Moon Village Association said: “The creation of the Global Expert Group on Sustainable Lunar Activities (GEGSLA) aims to reduce the risk of unintentional accidents and promote peaceful global cooperation by defining a common level playing field for lunar activities. For the first time, all stakeholders will be involved in informal multilateral discussions, supporting the United Nations in enabling sustainable lunar exploration and use for the benefit of humanity. “
Glafki Antoniou
Management and public relations support; Email: [email protected]
Information on the Moon Village Association
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