spacetoday.net: White House seeks international support for space resources policy

Posted: Fri, Apr 10, 2020, 6:55 PM ET (2255 GMT)
The White House is looking to build up international support for its approach to the use of space resources. An executive order signed Monday by President Trump directed the State Department to lead interagency efforts to encourage other countries to adopt the American position supporting "safe and sustainable operations for the public and private recovery and use of space resources." The order reiterates the long-stated opposition to the Moon Agreement, which would set up an international regime for overseeing use of space resources but which only a handful of nations have adopted. A senior administration official said the executive order had been in development since last year, but was published now after NASA released its report last week outlining its long-term lunar exploration plans that envision the use of lunar water ice and other resources. The official also said that the administration's approach would have been discussed at meetings of the UN's Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, but those meetings have been canceled or postponed by the pandemic.