The international lunar decade: Framework for international cooperation in lunar development

This paper outlines an argument for the International Lunar Decade (ILD) now planned for 2020-2030. The inspiration for the ILD is the International Geophysical Year (IGY) from July 1957 thru December 1958 involving 67 countries. IGY was conceived of and organized by scientists overcoming national boundaries and barriers between the Soviet bloc and the U.S. and its western allies. IGY made possible international cooperation in research that enabled understanding of global phenomena like climate change. IGY also framed competition between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. that launched satellites as part of IGY, which marked the dawn of the Space Age. IGY also led to institutional developments including COPUOS which created the forum to negotiate the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 and the other major space treaties. ILD is envisioned as a framework for international cooperation towards sustainable presence on the Moon and related cislunar development. ILD was first proposed by the Planetary Society to COSPAR in 2006 when President Bush's Vision for Space Exploration proposed return to the Moon before 2020 [1]. ILD was proposed to start on the 50th anniversary of IGY in 2007. The global financial crisis that emerged in 2007 also impacted space priorities particularly for the U.S. which cancelled programs targeting the Moon. Now in 2018, the U.S. and many other countries are again planning missions to the Moon. Unlike 2006, there is now significant involvement by the private sector with plans for utilization of lunar resources, asteroid mining, and fuel depots and other facilities in cislunar space. Additionally, significant reductions in costs with expectations of continuing reductions in cost are opening opportunities for smaller countries, universities, and companies that in the aggregate represent comparable financial and R&D capabilities to the major spacefaring powers. The ILD framework for international cooperation will amplify the capacity of NASA and other spacefaring powers while opening opportunities for small and developing countries to participate towards the common goal of sustainable presence on the Moon made possible by use of lunar resources. However, ILD is not an attempt to master-plan lunar exploration and development. Like the IGY, ILD will provide loose coordination for numerous initiativesindependently organized by participating countries, firms, universities, funding sources, and international organizations. Sustainable research and commercial activities on the Moon and in cislunar space. A central goal of ILD is to enable economic use of lunar resources and the development of markets for those resources that offer profitable returns. This requires the concurrent development of space policy to enable mining of the Moon and asteroids with shared infrastructure, standards and enabling technologies that can maximize benefits of lunar exploration and development for all countries and their research organizations and commercial businesses.