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Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\nWe\u2019re in the midst of a Moon rush. A growing number of countries and companies have the lunar surface in their sights in a race for resources and space dominance. So are we ready for this new era of lunar exploration?<\/b><\/p>\n
This week, images were beamed back to Earth of China\u2019s flag unfurled on the Moon. It\u2019s the country\u2019s fourth landing there – and the first ever mission to return samples from the Moon\u2019s far side. In the past 12 months, India and Japan have also set down spacecraft on the lunar surface. In February, US firm Intuitive Machines became the first private company to put a lander on the Moon, and there are plenty more set to follow.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Nasa wants to send humans back to the Moon, with its Artemis astronauts aiming for a 2026 landing. China says it will send humans to the Moon by 2030. And instead of fleeting visits, the plan is to build permanent bases.<\/p>\n
But in an age of renewed great-power politics, this new space race could lead to tensions on Earth being exported to the lunar surface.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur relationship with the Moon is going to fundamentally change very soon,\u201d warns Justin Holcomb, a geologist from the University of Kansas. The rapidity of space exploration is now \u201coutpacing our laws\u201d, he says.<\/p>\n
A UN agreement from 1967 says no nation can own the Moon. Instead, the fantastically named Outer Space Treaty says it belongs to everyone, and that any exploration has to be carried out for the benefit of all humankind and in the interests of all nations.<\/p>\n
While it sounds very peaceful and collaborative – and it is – the driving force behind the Outer Space Treaty wasn\u2019t cooperation, but the politics of the Cold War.<\/p>\n
As tensions grew between the US and Soviet Union after World War Two, the fear was that space could become a military battleground, so the key part of the treaty was that no nuclear weapons could be sent into space. More than 100 nations signed up. <\/p>\n
But this new space age looks different to the one back then.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n One major change is that modern-day Moon missions are not just the projects of nations – companies are competing, too.<\/p>\n In January, a US commercial mission called Peregrine announced it was taking human ashes, DNA samples and a sports drink, complete with branding, to the Moon. A fuel leak meant it never made it there, but it sparked debate about how delivering this eclectic inventory fitted in with the treaty\u2019s principle that exploration should benefit all humanity.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’re starting to just send stuff up there just because we can. There’s no sort of rhyme or reason anymore,\u201d says Michelle Hanlon, a space lawyer and founder of For All Moonkind, an organisation that seeks to protect the Apollo landing sites. “Our Moon is within reach and now we’re starting to abuse it,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n But even if lunar private enterprise is on the increase, nation states still ultimately remain the key players in all this. Sa\u2019id Mostehsar, director of the London Institute of Space Policy and Law, says any company needs to be authorised to go into space by a state, which will be limited by the international treaties.<\/p>\n There\u2019s still a great deal of prestige to be had by joining the elite club of Moon landers. After their successful missions, India and Japan could very much claim to be global space players.<\/p>\n And a nation with a successful space industry can bring a big boost to the economy through jobs, innovation.<\/p>\n But the Moon race offers an even bigger prize: its resources.<\/p>\n While the lunar terrain looks rather barren, it contains minerals, including rare earths, metals like iron and titanium – and helium too, which is used in everything from superconductors to medical equipment.<\/p>\n Estimates for the value of all this vary wildly, from billions to quadrillions. So it\u2019s easy to see why some see the Moon as a place to make lots of money. However, it\u2019s also important to note that this would be a very long-term investment – and the tech needed to extract and return these lunar resources is a some way off.<\/p>\n In 1979, an international treaty declared that no state or organisation could claim to own the resources there. But it wasn\u2019t popular – only 17 countries are party to it, and this does not include any countries who\u2019ve been to the Moon, including the US.<\/p>\n In fact, the US passed a law in 2015 allowing its citizens and industries to extract, use and sell any space material. <\/p>\n \u201cThis caused tremendous consternation amongst the international community,\u201d Michelle Hanlon told me. \u201cBut slowly, others followed suit with similar national laws.\u201d These included Luxembourg, the UAE, Japan and India.<\/p>\n The resource that could be most in demand is a surprising one: water.<\/p>\n![\"Getty](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/375b\/live\/24c44250-24bf-11ef-a13a-0b8c563da930.png.webp\")
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