미 국무부에서 진행된 그리스의 아르테미스 서명식에서 그리스 기오르고스 게라페트리티스 외무장관이 서명하고 있다. / US State Dept
달과 화성 등 우주탐사가 활발하게 진행되고 있는 2024년, '아르테미스 협정(Artemis Accord)' 참가국들이 차근차근 늘어가고 있다.
그리스가 2월 9일 미국 국무부와 미국 항공우주국 NASA가 주도하고 전세계의 많은 우주탐사 국가들이 동참하고 있는 '아르테미스 협정'에 서명했다. 그리고 일주일 뒤 2월 16일 우루과이도 서명함으로써 아르테미스 서명국은 36개국이 되었다. 이어 4월에는 스웨덴이 아르테미스 협정에 서명했다. 현지시간 4월 16일 화요일이다. 그 전날인 월요일에는 스위스가 서명했다.
그 뒤를 이은 것은 슬로베니아. 사흘뒤인 4월 19일 금요일에는 슬로베니아가 서명함으로써 아르테미스 협정은 39개국이 참여하는 국제협정이 되었다. 슬로베니아 외무부에서 진행된 서명식에는 NASA와 슬로베니아 항공우주 관계자들이 참여했다. 빌 넬슨 국장은 "NASA는 슬로베니아의 아르테미스 협정 서명을 환영한다"면서 "우리는 별들을 탐사하는 새로운 시대, 평화롭게 열린 마음으로 우주를 탐사하는 새 시대를 맞아, 미국과 슬로베니아의 파트너십이 새로운 국면으로 접어들었다"고 환영의 말을 했다.
아르테미스 미션은 NASA가 주도해 추진하고 있는 달 탐사와 그 이후의 심우주 탐사를 진행하는 우주 탐사 프로젝트다. 내년부터 유인 달 탐사를 시작하는 아르테미스 미션은 현재 진행되고 있는 가장 큰 우주 프로젝트로, 아르테미스 협정을 맺어, 거기에 참여하겠다고 사인하는 국가들이 여러가지 형태로 동참하고 있다.
달 탐사를 하는 것은 알려져 있지만, 그 기본이 되는 '아르테미스 협정'은 잘 알려지지 않았다. 그래서 그리스의 서명을 계기로, NASA와 스페이스닷컴의 자료를 통해 ▶아르테미스 협정의 주요내용 ▶아르테미스 협정 참가국가 ▶아르테미스 협정 영어원문 등을 코스모스 타임즈가 정리했다.
▶아르테미스 미션 내용은?
아르테미스 협정과는 다른 결이지만, 지금도 진행되고 있는 아르테미스 미션부터 간단히 정리하고 넘어간다.
아르테미스1 미션(아르테미스 1호)은 인류 역사상 가장 큰 로켓인 '스페이스 론치 시스템(SLS)' 로켓에 실려 2022년 1월에 발사됐다. SLS의 시험 테스트이기도 한 임시 무인 달 궤도선이다. 오리온 우주선은 10일 간의 비행을 거쳐서 지상 6만km 궤도까지 진입한 뒤, 지구로 귀환했다. .
아르테미스2 미션은 2024년 11월, 4명의 승무원을 우주선 '오리온'에 태워서 달 궤도로 보내는 미션이다. 그런데, 페레그린 우주선의 사고 등 여파로 1년 연기돼 2025년 9월 이후로 연기됐다. 아르테미스3 미션은 처음으로 여성과 유색인종 우주인을 태우고 달의 남극에 착륙하는 것이 목표다. 2026년 9월 이후에 추진된다. 지금까지 달의 표면을 밟은 우주비행사는 모두 백인 남성이었다. 그것이 바로 이번 프로그램을 달의 여신의 이름인 '아르테미스'로 붙인 이유다. 그러나 올해 11월로 예정됐던 아르테미스 2호는 2025년 9월로, 아르테미스 3호는 2026년 9월로 일정이 미뤄졌다. 달 착륙 이후에는 달 기지를 건설하고 화성 등 심우주 탐사까지 진행된다. 아르테미스 미션은 그 단계까지를 목표로 하고 있다.
▶아르테미스 협정의 주요내용
아르테미스 협정 문서에서 NASA는 아르테미스 협정의 주요 원칙을 다음과 같이 제시하고 있다.
1. 평화적 우주 탐사= 서명국들은 아르테미스 프로그램에 따라 수행되는 모든 활동이 국제법에 따라 평화적인 목적으로 수행되어야 한다는 데 동의한다.
2. 투명성= 서명국들은 혼란과 갈등을 방지하기를 바라는 마음에서 투명한 방식으로 활동을 수행해야 한다. 서명국들은 이것을 경쟁 프로젝트에도 적용해야 하며 연구 및 논문 발표를 서로 조정할 것으로 기대된다.
3. 상호운용성= 아르테미스 프로그램에 참여하는 국가들은 기존 인프라와 연계하여 작동할 수 있는 시스템을 개발하고 지원하는 것을 목표로 해야 하며, 우주 탐사의 안전성과 임무의 지속 가능성을 모두 향상시켜야 한다.
4. 긴급 지원= 아르테미스 협정에 서명하는 국가들은 우주 비행사들과 곤경에 처한 우주에 있는 사람들을 돕기 위해 최선을 다해야 한다.
5. 우주물체 등록= 서명국들은 자국과 관련된 우주물체를 등록해야 하는지 결정해야 한다.
6. 우주유산 보존= 아르테미스 협약 서명국들은 인류의 우주 유산을 보존하기 위해 헌신한다. 여기에는 인간 또는 로봇 착륙 지점, 인공물, 우주선 및 기타 천체에 대한 활동 증거와 같은 역사적으로 중요한 장소가 포함된다.
7. 우주 자원= 서명국들은 천체들로부터 우주 자원을 추출하고 활용하는 것이 안전하고 지속 가능한 우주 탐험을 지원하는 데 필수적임을 확인한다. 서명국들은 또한 우주 자원 채취 활동에 대해 유엔 사무총장, 과학계와 대중에 알리겠다고 약속한다.
8. 활동의 상충= 아르테미스 협정 국가들은 유해한 간섭을 방지하고 정당한 존중의 원칙을 지킨다. 이는 국가 간에 설정할 수 있고 관련 활동이 중단되면 종료될 수 있는 지역으로 이른바 '안전 구역'을 설정하는 것도 포함한다.
9. 궤도 잔해= 아르테미스 협약 국가들은 임무 계획 과정의 일환으로 잔해를 안전하게 효율적으로 적시에 처리하기 위해 노력해야 한다. 이 협약의 서명국들은 또한 새로운 유해하고 장기적인 잔해의 생성을 제한해야 한다는 데 동의한다. 이것은 임무의 운영 후 단계에서 우주 구조물을 안전하게 처리하는 것을 포함한다.
▶아르테미스 협정 서명국 36개국
2024년 2월 그리스가 협정에 서명함으로써 현재 35개국이 아르테미스 서명국으로 참여하고 있다. 그 나라들의 영문명은 아래와 같다. 알파벳 순서다.
- Angola 앙골라
- Argentina 아르헨티나
- Australia 호주
- Bahrain 바레인
- Belgium 벨기에
- Brazil 브라질
- Bulgaria 불가리아
- Canada 캐나다
- Columbia 콜롬비아
- Czech Republic 체코
- Ecuador 에콰도르
- France 프랑스
- Germany 독일
- Greece 그리스
- Iceland 아이슬란드
- India 인도
- Israel 이스라엘
- Italy 이탈리아
- Japan 일본
- Luxemburg 룩셈부르크
- Mexico 멕시코
- Netherlands 네덜란드
- New Zealand 뉴질랜드
- Nigeria 나이제리아
- Poland 폴란드
- Republic of Korea 대한민국
- Romania 루마니아
- Rwanda 르완다
- Saudi Arabia 사우디아라비아
- Singapore 싱가포르
- Spain 스페인
- Ukraine 우크라이나
- United Arab Emirates 아랍에미리트
- United Kingdom 영국
- United States of America 미국
- Uruguay 우루과이
▶아르테미스 협정 (영어) 원문 전문
THE ARTEMIS ACCORDS
PRINCIPLES FOR COOPERATION IN THE CIVIL EXPLORATION AND USE OF
THE MOON, MARS, COMETS, AND ASTEROIDS
FOR PEACEFUL PURPOSES
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION 1 - PURPOSE AND SCOPE
SECTION 2 – IMPLEMENTATION
SECTION 3 – PEACEFUL PURPOSES
SECTION 4 – TRANSPARENCY
SECTION 5 – INTEROPERABILITY
SECTION 6 – EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE
SECTION 7 – REGISTRATION OF SPACE OBJECTS
SECTION 8 – RELEASE OF SCIENTIFIC DATA
SECTION 9 – PRESERVING OUTER SPACE HERITAGE
SECTION 10 – SPACE RESOURCES
SECTION 11 – DECONFLICTION OF SPACE ACTIVITIES
SECTION 12 – ORBITAL DEBRIS
SECTION 13 – FINAL PROVISIONS
SECTION 1 - PURPOSE AND SCOPE
The purpose of these Accords is to establish a common vision via a practical set of principles, guidelines, and best practices to enhance the governance of the civil exploration and use of outer space with the intention of advancing the Artemis Program. Adherence to a practical set of principles, guidelines, and best practices in carrying out activities in outer space is intended to increase the safety of operations, reduce uncertainty, and promote the sustainable and beneficial use of space for all humankind. The Accords represent a political commitment to the principles described herein, many of which provide for operational implementation of important obligations contained in the Outer Space Treaty and other instruments. The principles set out in these Accords are intended to apply to civil space activities conducted by the civil space agencies of each Signatory. These activities may take place on the Moon, Mars, comets, and asteroids, including their surfaces and subsurfaces, as well as in orbit of the Moon or Mars, in the Lagrangian points for the Earth-Moon system, and in transit between these celestial bodies and locations. The Signatories intend to implement the principles set out in these Accords through their own activities by taking, as appropriate, measures such as mission planning and contractual mechanisms with entities acting on their behalf.
SECTION 2 - IMPLEMENTATION
1. Cooperative activities regarding the exploration and use of outer space may be implemented through appropriate instruments, such as Memoranda of Understanding, Implementing Arrangements under existing Government-to-Government Agreements, Agency-to-Agency arrangements, or other instruments. These instruments should reference these Accords and include appropriate provisions for implementing the principles contained in these Accords.
(a) In the instruments described in this Section, the Signatories or their subordinate agencies should describe the nature, scope, and objectives of the civil cooperative activity;
(b) The Signatories’ bilateral instruments referred to above are expected to contain other provisions necessary to conduct such cooperation, including those related to liability, intellectual property, and the transfer of goods and technical data;
(c) All cooperative activities should be carried out in accordance with the legal obligations applicable to each Signatory; and
(d) Each Signatory commits to taking appropriate steps to ensure that entities acting on its behalf comply with the principles of these Accords.
SECTION 3 – PEACEFUL PURPOSES
The Signatories affirm that cooperative activities under these Accords should be exclusively for peaceful purposes and in accordance with relevant international law.
SECTION 4 – TRANSPARENCY
The Signatories are committed to transparency in the broad dissemination of information regarding their national space policies and space exploration plans in accordance with their national rules and regulations. The Signatories plan to share scientific information resulting from their activities pursuant to these Accords with the public and the international scientific community on a good-faith basis, and consistent with Article XI of the Outer Space Treaty.
SECTION 5 – INTEROPERABILITY
The Signatories recognize that the development of interoperable and common exploration infrastructure and standards, including but not limited to fuel storage and delivery systems, landing structures, communications systems, and power systems, will enhance space-based exploration, scientific discovery, and commercial utilization. The Signatories commit to use reasonable efforts to utilize current interoperability standards for space-based infrastructure, to establish such standards when current standards do not exist or are inadequate, and to follow such standards.
SECTION 6 – EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE
The Signatories commit to taking all reasonable efforts to render necessary assistance to personnel in outer space who are in distress, and acknowledge their obligations under the Rescue and Return Agreement.
SECTION 7 – REGISTRATION OF SPACE OBJECTS
For cooperative activities under these Accords, the Signatories commit to determine which of them should register any relevant space object in accordance with the Registration Convention. For activities involving a non-Party to the Registration Convention, the Signatories intend to cooperate to consult with that non-Party to determine the appropriate means of registration.
SECTION 8 – RELEASE OF SCIENTIFIC DATA
1. The Signatories retain the right to communicate and release information to the public regarding their own activities. The Signatories intend to coordinate with each other in advance regarding the public release of information that relates to the other Signatories’ activities under these Accords in order to provide appropriate protection for any proprietary and/or export-controlled information.
2. The Signatories are committed to the open sharing of scientific data. The Signatories plan to make the scientific results obtained from cooperative activities under these Accords available to the public and the international scientific community, as appropriate, in a timely manner.
3. The commitment to openly share scientific data is not intended to apply to private sector operations unless such operations are being conducted on behalf of a Signatory to the Accords.
SECTION 9 – PRESERVING OUTER SPACE HERITAGE
1. The Signatories intend to preserve outer space heritage, which they consider to comprise historically significant human or robotic landing sites, artifacts, spacecraft, and other evidence of activity on celestial bodies in accordance with mutually developed standards and practices.
2. The Signatories intend to use their experience under the Accords to contribute to multilateral efforts to further develop international practices and rules applicable to preserving outer space heritage.
SECTION 10 – SPACE RESOURCES
1. The Signatories note that the utilization of space resources can benefit humankind by providing critical support for safe and sustainable operations.
2. The Signatories emphasize that the extraction and utilization of space resources, including any recovery from the surface or subsurface of the Moon, Mars, comets, or asteroids, should be executed in a manner that complies with the Outer Space Treaty and in support of safe and sustainable space activities. The 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.
3. The Signatories commit to informing the Secretary-General of the United Nations as well as the public and the international scientific community of their space resource extraction activities in accordance with the Outer Space Treaty.
4. The Signatories intend to use their experience under the Accords to contribute to multilateral efforts to further develop international practices and rules applicable to the extraction and utilization of space resources, including through ongoing efforts at the COPUOS.
SECTION 11 – DECONFLICTION OF SPACE ACTIVITIES
1. The Signatories acknowledge and reaffirm their commitment to the Outer Space Treaty, including those provisions relating to due regard and harmful interference.
2. The Signatories affirm that the exploration and use of outer space should be conducted with due consideration to the United Nations Guidelines for the Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities adopted by the COPUOS in 2019, with appropriate changes to reflect the nature of operations beyond low-Earth orbit.
3. Consistent with Article IX of the Outer Space Treaty, a Signatory authorizing an activity under these Accords commits to respect the principle of due regard. A Signatory to these Accords with reason to believe that it may suffer, or has suffered, harmful interference, may request consultations with a Signatory or any other Party to the Outer Space Treaty authorizing the activity.
4. The Signatories commit to seek to refrain from any intentional actions that may create harmful interference with each other’s use of outer space in their activities under these Accords.
5. The Signatories commit to provide each other with necessary information regarding the location and nature of space-based activities under these Accords if a Signatory has reason to believe that the other Signatories’ activities may result in harmful interference with or pose a safety hazard to its space-based activities.
6. The Signatories intend to use their experience under the Accords to contribute to multilateral efforts to further develop international practices, criteria, and rules applicable to the definition and determination of safety zones and harmful interference.
7. In order to implement their obligations under the Outer Space Treaty, the Signatories intend to provide notification of their activities and commit to coordinating with any relevant actor to avoid harmful interference. The area wherein this notification and coordination will be implemented to avoid harmful interference is referred to as a ‘safety zone’. A safety zone should be the area in which nominal operations of a relevant activity or an anomalous event could reasonably cause harmful interference. The Signatories intend to observe the following principles related to safety zones: (a) The size and scope of the safety zone, as well as the notice and coordination, should reflect the nature of the operations being conducted and the environment that such operations are conducted in; (b) The size and scope of the safety zone should be determined in a reasonable manner 5 leveraging commonly accepted scientific and engineering principles; (c) The nature and existence of safety zones is expected to change over time reflecting the status of the relevant operation. If the nature of an operation changes, the operating Signatory should alter the size and scope of the corresponding safety zone as appropriate. Safety zones will ultimately be temporary, ending when the relevant operation ceases; and (d) The Signatories should promptly notify each other as well as the Secretary-General of the United Nations of the establishment, alteration, or end of any safety zone, consistent with Article XI of the Outer Space Treaty.
8. The Signatory maintaining a safety zone commits, upon request, to provide any Signatory with the basis for the area in accordance with the national rules and regulations applicable to each Signatory.
9. The Signatory establishing, maintaining, or ending a safety zone should do so in a manner that protects public and private personnel, equipment, and operations from harmful interference. The Signatories should, as appropriate, make relevant information regarding such safety zones, including the extent and general nature of operations taking place within them, available to the public as soon as practicable and feasible, while taking into account appropriate protections for proprietary and export-controlled information.
10. The Signatories commit to respect reasonable safety zones to avoid harmful interference with operations under these Accords, including by providing prior notification to and coordinating with each other before conducting operations in a safety zone established pursuant to these Accords.
11. The Signatories commit to use safety zones, which will be expected to change, evolve, or end based on the status of the specific activity, in a manner that encourages scientific discovery and technology demonstration, as well as the safe and efficient extraction and utilization of space resources in support of sustainable space exploration and other operations. The Signatories commit to respect the principle of free access to all areas of celestial bodies and all other provisions of the Outer Space Treaty in their use of safety zones. The Signatories further commit to adjust their usage of safety zones over time based on mutual experiences and consultations with each other and the international community.
SECTION 12 - ORBITAL DEBRIS
1. The Signatories commit to plan for the mitigation of orbital debris, including the safe, timely, and efficient passivation and disposal of spacecraft at the end of their missions, when appropriate, as part of their mission planning process. In the case of cooperative missions, such plans should explicitly include which Signatory has the primary responsibility for the end-of-mission planning and implementation.
2. The Signatories commit to limit, to the extent practicable, the generation of new, long-lived harmful debris released through normal operations, break-up in operational or post-mission 6 phases, and accidents and conjunctions, by taking appropriate measures such as the selection of safe flight profiles and operational configurations as well as post-mission disposal of space structures.
SECTION 13 – FINAL PROVISIONS
1. Building on any consultative mechanisms in preexisting arrangements as appropriate, the Signatories commit to periodically consult to review the implementation of the principles in these Accords, and to exchange views on potential areas of future cooperation.
2. The Government of the United States of America will maintain the original text of these Accords and transmit to the Secretary-General of the United Nations a copy of these Accords, which is not eligible for registration under Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations, with a view to its circulation to all the members of the Organization as an official document of the United Nations.
3. After October 13, 2020, any State seeking to become a Signatory to these Accords may submit its signature to the Government of the United States for addition to this text.
Adopted on October 13, 2020, in the English language.
