Securing the Moon: Exploring the Cybersecurity Dimensions of Sustainably Managing Lunar Resources

Abstract

Given the increasing number of public and private sector actors active in Lunar exploration, there is a growing need to ensure the sustainable and peaceful use of lunar resources including ice deposits. Such deposits are only available in certain places on the Moon’s surface such as Shackleton crater, making it a prime target for adjacent lunar bases. In future geopolitical conflicts this critical infrastructure could become a prime target, as has already been the case with both terrestrial water utilities and space-based infrastructure facing cyber attacks. This paper analyzes the applicable legal regimes governing space resources—focusing on water—and the cybersecurity of related infrastructure. With existing multilateral and multi-stakeholder forums such as the UN Committee for the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and the UN First Committee struggling to introduce new legally binding rules, space powers are filling governance gaps with non-multilateral norm building efforts such as the Artemis Accords. We investigate the applicability of these efforts to space cybersecurity, and suggest insights drawn from the literature on polycentric governance, the Ostrom Design Principles, and the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) Framework. The article concludes with a suggestion for a code of conduct to guide space actors in the peaceful and sustainable development of lunar resources.