Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Most of the legal solutions provided for Antarctica were indeed utilized as analogical
antecedents to the Moon Agreement. Some key elements of the Antarctic Treaty, such as
peacefulcooperationforscientificresearchandenvironmentalprotection,haveinspiredthe
legal regimes of the oceans and outer space (Tuerk,
2004
). The analogy with Antarctica has
allowed the superpowers to avoid transfer of the arms competition of the Cold War to the
Moon by providing an example of the non-militarization of celestial bodies.
The use of the analogy with Antarctica in the case under consideration has been de-
scribed as such: 'Though neither analogy was mentioned explicitly in the UN debates, the
superpowers consensus on military activity was consistent with mixing the available ana-
logies to generate a set of rules congruent with their current perceptions of interest. By
creating the vacuum of space like the high seas and celestial bodies like Antarctica, the su-
perpowers could secure both the freedom to pursue military uses of near-Earth space and
the non-extension of arms competition to celestial bodies that they described' (Peterson,
Furthermore, the solution to retaining ownership of and jurisdiction over the stations
and equipment on the Moon and over all persons sheds light on the parallels that emerge
fromthe texts ofbothagreements, including the mutual inspection system. Besides the pro-
visions that ruled an absolute ban on placing objects carrying nuclear weapons or weapons
of mass destruction into the Moon's orbit (Art. 3) and the installation of military bases and
fortifications, the Moon Agreement reaffirms the freedom of exploration and use (Art. 4
and Art. 5), and stresses the freedom of scientific investigation (Art. 6), while Article 9 al-
lows for the establishment of manned and unmanned stations on the Moon, provided that
they do not impede the free access of personnel, vehicles, and equipment of other states to
all areas of the Moon and that these installations shall be open to other states parties to the
Agreement, upon prior notification (Art. 12).
