Guests: John Batchelor, Laura Montgomery, Dr. David Livingston.  Topics:  Space law, The Artemis Accords, returning to the Moon, China and Russia.

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John Batchelor and I welcomed back noted space attorney Laura Montgomery to discuss space law, the Outer Space Treaty and The Artemis Accords.  Right away Laura mentioned Article 3 about peaceful uses for outer space but she had much to say about what this meant with international law.  Listen to what our guest said about The Artemis Accords having roots in the Outer Space Treaty (OST).  Our guest was asked about both China and Russia and the Accords.  She said neither has signed onto the Accords and it was doubtful if they would but were signatures to the OST.  As the discussion continued, listen to what our guest said about Section 3 on Peaceful Purposes from Artemis and then the OST.  Laura was asked about the militarization of space, especially Near Earth Orbit. She said the OST says no weapons of mass destruction in orbit but that for some types of militarization there was likely wiggle room.  Before ending the segment, commercial enterprise for the Moon was discussed in the context of The Artemis Accords with much attention to the need for transparency.  Before ending Laura offered us additional comments about China.  Note that since this program, Saudi Arabia has signed onto the Artemis Accords.

Please post your comments/questions for this discussion on our blog for this show.

You can email Mr. Batchelor or Laura through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com. Doug can be reached through his www.parabolicarc.com site.