France joined Tuesday, June 7, 2022 the program for future exploration of the Moon driven by the United States, by signing them « accords Artemis » which plan in particular to create “safe areas” to protect extraterrestrial resources.
France thus becomes the 20th country (after in particular Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, etc.) to join forces with this new wave of peaceful space explorationspecifies the National Center for Space Studies (CNES), the French space agency.
Its CEO Philippe Baptiste signed in Washington, in the presence of NASA administrator Bill Nelson, the text of the declaration known as « accords Artemis ». The American program of the same name aims to return astronauts to the Moon around 2025, more than 50 years after the historic moon landing of the Apollo 11 mission. To eventually establish a lasting human presence there.
Future activities on the Moon, Mars or asteroids
It also provides for the construction of a station which will be assembled in lunar orbit from 2024, the Lunar Gateway, a future springboard for more distant manned flights.
The Artemis Accords are a set of bilateral agreements with the United States, which build on the 1967 international treaty governing outer space.
“For both our scientific community and our industry, this new framework will allow us to face new challenges and to continue to count among the major space powers”welcomed Philippe Baptiste, quoted in a press release.
The signatory countries adhere to a dozen principles applying to their future activities on the Moon, but also on Mars or asteroids: transparency of missions, interoperability of systems, assistance to personnel in the event of distress, sharing of scientific data, preservation historical sites…
Controversial measure
A more controversial measure provides for the possibility of delimiting “safe areas” to avoid “harmful interference” by a third party, in particular to protect the exploitation of resources, such as lunar water. And this while the 1967 treaty prohibits any « appropriation nationale » of these resources.
“According to our analysis, the Artemis agreements are not in contradiction with the 1967 treaty”told l’AFP Pascale Ultré-Guérard, Deputy Director of Programs in the Strategy Department at CNES.
The text allows “to cement” France’s commitment to lunar exploration, she added. For example, the Esprit communication and refueling module of the Lunar Gateway is to be designed in France by Thales Alenia Space.
The text, unveiled by the United States in 2020, has not been signed by either China or Russia, which plan to build their own lunar station together.