우주법 체계상 달 자원 채굴의 쟁점과 과제 - 아르테미스 약정을 중심으로

Issues and Challenges of Lunar Resource Mining in the Space Law Framework : Focusing on the Artemis Agreement

The recent commercialization of space activities has made lunar exploration a hot topic of interest. The question is whether the space law framework established during the Cold War should be considered as it applies to this new development. The Cold War space race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 20th century was linked to the race to develop ballistic missile-based nuclear weapons and led to the issue of the lunar landing program. The current space race is different. Advances in science and technology have reopened the space age. At least when it comes to the Moon, socioeconomic factors have led to a race for space resources. It is against this background that the US-led Artemis program and the Artemis Agreement can be understood. However, there is a controversial legal aspect. The Artemis Agreement allows for the removal of resources from the lunar surface or subsurface. Furthermore, it is stated that it does not constitute a national appropriation under Article 2 of the Outer Space Treaty (OST) of 1967. This study critically analyzes and examines the issues and challenges in the space law framework of lunar resource extraction, focusing on the recently controversial issues of (1) the non-appropriation principle under Article 2 of the Outer Space Treaty and (2) the establishment of a Safety Zone as provided for in Article 11 of the Artemis Agreement, with a view to preventing collisions during the lunar mining process. The Artemis Agreement's jurisprudence is not without limits. The logic that resources mined from global common areas such as the moon and celestial bodies can be owned gives the impression of abusing legal loopholes. On the other hand, it gives too much discretion to the creator of the Safety Zone. It is also unclear whether the zones are exclusive, and Article 60 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea is instructive when examining safety zones.