France joins the American Artemis space program for the exploration of the moon
An artist's impression of the Artemis mission to the Moon.
©NASA
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2 mins
France joins the American Artemis program and is the 20th country to sign with NASA for future exploration of the Moon.
The Artémis program is intended to be the successor to the Apollo missions and aims to establish a permanent human presence on our satellite.
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NASA wants to return and stay on the moon and above all it does not intend to do it alone.
International partners, private partners... all must work together.
This is the object of the Artemis agreements.
France, which has just signed, is therefore part of it with 19 other countries.
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Inevitably, by setting up these permanent bases first on the Moon and then on other celestial bodies, the questions of the appropriation of resources and the use of land arise.
And that will be discussed between those who will be able to be part of the adventure and who will be able to go there,
explains Lionel Suchet, deputy director general of CNES, the French space agency.
Artemis creates that frame.
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French doubts about respect for UN treaties
But now, until recently, France like other countries was rather reluctant to join the Artemis adventure.
In particular, it was necessary to ensure that this agreement did not infringe the United Nations Outer Space Treaty of 1967. Albert Tumanyan, specialist in space law, returns to the principles of this text: "
The 1967 Charter sets a principle that says that no State, no private company can appropriate anything in space.
However, the Artemis agreements by creating a security zone, this would amount to appropriating a territory on the Moon.
And by allowing the exploitation of space resources to private companies, this also amounts to appropriating resources.
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On the CNES side, we readily agree that these questions arise.
And we plead for an evolution of the rules in this area.
A discussion that must take place within the framework of the United Nations.
►To listen also: Guest France - Artemis Agreements: "France will have a specific role in this program"
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