The Moon, Earth’s closest celestial neighbor, has influenced human civilization both culturally and scientifically. From its role in shaping tidal patterns to inspiring mythologies, songs, and art, the Moon holds a special place in human history. However, beyond its symbolic value, the Moon offers humanity significant opportunities for scientific discoveries, commercial innovation, and even the potential for permanent human habitation.
The 2020s mark a pivotal moment in lunar exploration. Several technological advancements have drastically reduced the cost of accessing the Moon, enabling a new wave of exploration missions. This surge in lunar activity has also introduced new actors into the space economy, from private enterprises to national space agencies. Yet, as these efforts unfold, there is growing concern over the lack of community input in deciding what is sent to the Moon and how it aligns with ethical, cultural, and scientific priorities.
The “Community Payload Review Whitepaper” recently published by the Open Lunar Foundation, provides a comprehensive examination of the need for community involvement in lunar exploration. It proposes the establishment of a certification system that incentivizes lunar actors to follow community-developed guidelines, ensuring responsible exploration of the Moon.
The Challenge of Community Involvement
Over the next few decades, an estimated 30 lunar missions are planned, a number that would have seemed improbable even ten years ago. These missions include a wide range of objectives, from increasing precision landing capabilities to returning samples from the Moon’s Aitken Basin. Despite the scientific potential of these missions, there is no standardized framework to ensure community input into the nature of lunar payloads, particularly when it comes to sensitive issues like environmental protection and cultural significance.
There have already been incidents that illustrate the need for a more structured approach to lunar exploration. In 2022, Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander delivered a payload containing human remains, sparking deep concern among indigenous communities, including the Navajo Nation. These communities hold the Moon as sacred and objected to the human remains being placed on the lunar surface without consultation. NASA, despite being a partner in the mission, had no control over the commercial payloads onboard the Peregrine lander. This incident underscored the lack of a consensus-driven approach for dealing with sensitive payloads and raised questions about how future missions could better respect cultural considerations.
Another incident occurred in 2019, when the Beresheet mission carried a payload of tardigrades, microscopic organisms known for their resilience, which crash-landed on the lunar surface. This sparked controversy over planetary protection, with critics arguing that the potential contamination of the Moon had not been sufficiently considered. The lack of communication and consensus around the objectives of the Beresheet mission highlighted the need for more transparency and community involvement in decision-making.
These examples underscore the need for a certification process that allows for community input, ensuring that the ethical, environmental, and sociocultural implications of lunar exploration are adequately considered.
Establishing a Community-Driven Certification
The “Community Payload Review Whitepaper” proposes a solution to these challenges: a community-driven certification system that incentivizes lunar actors to follow guidelines developed by the broader community. This certification would provide a framework for ensuring that lunar payloads align with ethical and environmental standards while encouraging public trust in lunar exploration activities.
The certification process would be similar to other existing certification systems, such as the Fair Trade Certification or the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). These systems provide consumers with the assurance that products are produced ethically and sustainably, creating market incentives for producers to adhere to responsible practices. Similarly, a lunar certification system could offer reputational and operational benefits for actors who choose to align with community-driven guidelines.
The proposal has two main components:
- Consortium Formation: A consortium of interested parties, including scientists, engineers, policymakers, and members of traditionally underrepresented communities, would be formed to streamline existing guidelines and create new ones that lunar actors could follow.
- Certification Organization: An independent organization would be established to execute the certification process, providing lunar actors with a voluntary framework to ensure that their payloads align with community-driven guidelines.
The certification would help ensure that lunar exploration activities are socially responsible, environmentally sustainable, and culturally sensitive. It would also provide actors with a framework for demonstrating responsible behavior to the larger community, helping them build long-term relationships with stakeholders.
Methodology and Stakeholder Input
To develop the certification system, the whitepaper proposes that a wide range of stakeholders be consulted. These stakeholders include scientists, engineers, policymakers, and members of indigenous communities who hold the Moon in cultural significance. By involving these diverse perspectives, the certification system can be designed to reflect the values and concerns of all interested parties.
Key informants were interviewed to provide insights into the most pressing concerns that a certification system should address. These concerns include:
- Environmental Considerations: Ensuring that planetary protection guidelines are followed, with particular attention to debris mitigation and operations in areas of high scientific interest, such as the Moon’s Permanently Shadowed Regions (PSRs).
- Sociocultural Considerations: Protecting heritage sites and ensuring that lunar activities respect the cultural values of communities that hold the Moon in spiritual or cultural significance.
Stakeholders were also asked to identify tangible measurement criteria that could be used to assess whether lunar actors were adhering to community-driven guidelines. This feedback was crucial in shaping the proposed certification process.
Proposed Governance Structure
The governance of the proposed certification system is designed to ensure neutrality, transparency, and inclusivity. The structure includes the following components:
- Executive Committee: This committee would implement the vision of the consortium, ensuring that the certification process is transparent, neutral, and aligned with the established guidelines. It would also adjudicate disputes and oversee any modifications to the guidelines.
- Stakeholder Advisory Group: Representing the interests of various stakeholder groups, this advisory group would provide feedback on the guidelines being developed and ensure that all perspectives are considered in decision-making.
- Working Groups: Focused on specific technical, ethical, and cultural issues, these working groups would provide a granular means of assessing compliance with the guidelines. They would also play a key role in refining the guidelines as more data becomes available from lunar missions.
- Secretariat: Supporting the day-to-day operations of the certification process, the secretariat would ensure that the process remains accessible and transparent to the broader community.
Key Features of the Certification
Several key features are proposed to ensure that the certification system is effective:
- Multi-stakeholder Design: The certification process would be governed by a consortium representing a wide range of stakeholders, ensuring that decisions are made in a neutral and inclusive manner.
- Inclusive Representation: All interested parties, from indigenous communities to space agencies, would be represented in the certification process, ensuring that the system reflects the values of all stakeholders.
- Consultative Processes: The governance structure would include mechanisms for continuous consultation with the community, ensuring that the certification process remains responsive to evolving concerns.
- Decision-Making Velocity: To ensure that the certification process can keep pace with the rapid advancements in lunar exploration, the system would be designed to be agile and adaptive.
Output of the Certification Process
The primary output of the certification process would be a certification label, indicating that a lunar payload adheres to the community-driven guidelines. This certification could provide lunar actors with reputational and operational benefits, helping them build stronger relationships with stakeholders and enhancing their public image.
The certification could be modeled on two existing systems:
- Forest Stewardship Council (FSC): The FSC certification ensures that products made from wood and other forest products are sourced sustainably. By adhering to FSC standards, companies can access markets that value responsible forest management. A similar certification could be developed for lunar exploration, ensuring that lunar actors are adhering to responsible exploration practices.
- Social License to Operate (SLO): In the mining industry, companies are required to obtain a social license to operate, which reflects the approval of local communities and stakeholders. A similar model could be applied to lunar exploration, ensuring that lunar activities are accepted by the broader community.
Challenges and Future Directions
Several challenges must be addressed to successfully implement the certification system:
- Lack of Operational Data: One of the biggest challenges is the limited amount of operational data available from lunar missions. This makes it difficult to establish clear guidelines for lunar actors. However, as more missions are conducted, this data will become available, allowing for more refined guidelines.
- Stakeholder Buy-in: Another challenge is securing buy-in from commercial actors, who may be hesitant to adopt guidelines that are not legally mandated. Incentives, such as reputational benefits or financial incentives, could help encourage participation in the certification process.
- Lack of Sociocultural Guidelines: There is currently no comprehensive set of sociocultural guidelines for lunar exploration, particularly when it comes to respecting the cultural values of indigenous communities. More work is needed to develop these guidelines in collaboration with the affected communities.
Summary
The “Community Payload Review Whitepaper” proposes a comprehensive framework for ensuring responsible lunar exploration through a community-driven certification process. By engaging a wide range of stakeholders and creating a neutral, transparent certification system, this initiative aims to align the rapid pace of lunar exploration with the values of the global community. As humanity moves closer to establishing a permanent presence on the Moon, this certification system will play a crucial role in ensuring that lunar exploration is conducted in a socially responsible, environmentally sustainable, and ethically sound manner.
