Policy

In part 1 of this series, we considered the Executive Order issued by the U.S. President on “Encouraging International Support for the Recovery and Use of Space Resources”, dated 6 April 2020, and what this might imply for Canada if it signed onto supporting the order.

The United States government has recently announced two major proclamations in relation to their current and future space exploration program and has requested prospective international partners, including Canada, to effectively embrace these declarations if they wish to join the U.S. program.

As NASA was releasing the Artemis Accords last week, Canada has been working towards finalizing an agreement with the US and other international partners for its participation in the Lunar Gateway.

NASA publicly unveiled the Artemis Accords last week, a list of principles that would form the basis of bilateral agreements between the US and nations in the exploration of space.

On April 6, 2020 US President Donald Trump signed an executive order effectively stating that US companies can exploit space resources.

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has finally publicly made available the Socio-Economic Benefits of Space Utilization final report they received in 2018.

Heading into 2020 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberal minority government will need to tread carefully to stay in power, but that shouldn’t effect the space file.

Earlier this year the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) held a Space Security Conference that included several Canadian voices and was co-organized by The Simons Foundation Canada.

The 2019 Space Security Index is now available and the report contains positive developments, but clearly shows more work needs to be done.