Four employees of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) will take part in the United Nations’ new Action Team on Lunar Activities Consultation (ATLAC) to continue to emphasize multinational teamwork for future moon missions, according to the CSA.
“With the large number of lunar missions planned, strong collaboration at the international level is important,” the CSA wrote in a recent statement to SpaceQ about the action team, which was recently established under the long-running UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).
Canada is one of the first signatories to the NASA-led Artemis Accords, most famously obtaining a seat for CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen aboard Artemis 2 – a four-person mission that will circle the moon no earlier than 2026 – as a part of the agreement. The accords are both a framework for U.S.-led norms in space exploration, and a means for countries to directly participate in future Artemis missions if they so choose.
More than 50 nations have signed on to the accords, according to figures from NASA and the U.S. Department of State, but only a subset of those are providing hardware for Artemis. The Government of Canada’s contribution is principally Canadarm3, to be built by MDA Space.
Canadarm3 will provide robotic activities aboard the future multinational Gateway space station that will orbit the moon in support of Artemis moon-landings. CSA is also running periodic fundings for the Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program (LEAP) with the aim of bringing scientific and engineering payloads in support of Artemis missions to the surface, and is funding a mini-rover and a utility cart for lunar expeditions, among other initiatives.
So with all of that being said, what is the context for ATLAC? It was formally created in February 2025 following extensive discussion and consultation within COPUOS. The group is co-chaired by Romania and Pakistan. The four representatives for Canada are:
- Sarah Pacey-Parker, Manager International Affairs, CSA
- Laura-Alexe Marcoux, Policy Advisor, International Affairs, CSA
- Marie-Lyse Bélanger, Senior Policy Analyst, Space Exploration Policy, CSA
- Ernest Tan, Engineer, Space Exploration Planning, Coordination & Advanced Concepts, CSA
ATLAC’s principal aim is to “have focused, expert-level exchanges to develop recommendations aimed at improving consultations related to lunar activities,” according to the group’s website. The team aims to produce a final report no sooner than 2027, but it may be in 2028.
Canada, the CSA pointed out, is one of the original members of COPUOS – which itself was established in 1959. Participation in ATLAC is open to all state members of COPUOS, who may appoint up to four representatives, as well as permanent observers (who are allowed to have one representative each.)
“The Action Team may also, as necessary, invite recognized technical, policy and legal experts, and any other entity whose support is deemed useful for its work, to participate,” according to the UN’s documentation for ATLAC. Various members and participants may also be asked to provide “written contributions on topics relevant to its mandate. These submissions should be a maximum of five pages in length.”
ATLAC’s establishment comes during more activity and interest in cislunar space and the moon itself by many countries, but the global discussion is often dominated by concerns from the United States about what Russia and China are planning for future moon missions. These two countries are not signatories to the Artemis Accords, and are leading their own alliance of countries for lunar activities.
One of the things at stake is figuring out how the moon should be used, and what legal frameworks should establish this. The topic is complex, touching on considerations ranging from military concerns to the rise of commercial landing missions on the moon. Very simply put, however, there are a few items that may be considered.
ATLAC will operate “without prejudice to the consultations” of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty or OST. Signatories to this treaty agree to a “basic framework on international space law,” according to the treaty’s website. Some of the main stipulations of the treaty state that space should be free of nuclear weapons, that astronauts are envoys of our species, and that space is not subject to sovereign claims.
Moon activities were more specifically governed by the UN’s Moon Agreement of 1979, whose most famous stipulation is the following: “The moon and its natural resources are the common heritage of mankind and … an international regime should be established to govern the exploitation of such resources when such exploitation is about to become feasible,” according to the UN. Very few nations are participants, however; notably, Canada and the United States are not members of that group.
The Artemis Accords of 2020 are meant to “reinforce the commitment by signatory nations to the Outer Space Treaty”, according to NASA’s website, along with other UN agreements such as the Rescue and Return Agreement (for landing astronauts) and the Registration Convention (that seeks to register objects launched to space).
But the accords have slightly different language concerning space resources, than the Moon Agreement: “The Signatories note that the utilization of space resources can benefit humankind by providing critical support for safe and sustainable operations,” the accords document states, although the activities “should be executed in a manner that complies with the Outer Space Treaty.”
Nevertheless, Artemis Accords signatories “affirm that the extraction of space resources does not inherently constitute national appropriation under Article II of the Outer Space Treaty, and that contracts and other legal instruments relating to space resources should be consistent with that Treaty.”
As a recent Space Review article notes, several non-governmental entities also suggested approaches to space resources in the 2010s, such as Space Resource International, the Hague International Space Resources Working Group, the Moon Village Association, Open Lunar, For All Moonkind and the Space Treaty Project. COPUOS also created a Working Group on the Legal Aspects of Space Resource Activities in 2022, which has a five-year mandate.
All of this is not to say that ATLAC necessarily or exclusively will discuss space resources, but to point out the importance of continued international discussions concerning lunar exploration to reduce – and ideally remove – the potential for misunderstandings or conflict among different lunar frameworks suggested or established in the past.
ATLAC will in part be focused on “whether to recommend the establishment of an international mechanism” for lunar activity consultations, and is considering “priority topics relevant to its mandate that could subsequently be addressed under its proposed international mechanism.”
Canada’s submission to the committee on Nov. 1, 2024 expressed a willingness to move forward with the consultations. “Canada reiterates its support for the mandate, terms of reference and methods of work as agreed by the Committee and looks forward to constructive discussions,” the submission reads.
“Through focused, expert-level exchanges to develop recommendations, we believe the Action Team can play a critical role in advancing how to best ensure that the multitude of missions planned to the lunar surface in the next decade and beyond [are] conducted safely, transparently, and sustainably.”
And as the CSA said in its statement to SpaceQ, ATLAC is just one of the groups in which Canada participates, with the aim of “promoting global collaboration in the peaceful and sustainable exploration of outer space.” The CSA added they will work within ATLAC to “finalize and seek an agreement on the Action Team’s workplan.”
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