Lifting the Moon Fog - Why Lunar Peace Needs Information Sharing

Antonino Salmeri and Samuel Jardine

The Lunar Rush and the Information Gap

Lunar exploration is accelerating. More than 100 payloads are expected to reach the Moon by 2030, making it one of the most active frontiers in space. Governments and private actors alike are preparing missions, deploying orbiters, landers, and experiments. But while launch manifests grow, the tools for tracking and coordinating these activities remain scattered and outdated.

In just the past three years, South Korea's lunar orbiter had to perform four collision avoidance manoeuvres. These near-misses offer a preview of a problem that will only grow: without reliable, accessible, and timely information about what is happening on and around the Moon, missions face safety risks, duplication of effort, and even potential conflict. The current information-sharing system is not keeping up with the pace of lunar activity.

Fragmented reporting practices and the absence of common standards are affecting lunar transparency. What can be done to address it? Based on bilateral consultations conducted by the Lunar Policy Platform with over 70 representatives from 45 organisations, the Lunar Policy Platform has identified core principles and emerging practices that could help bridge the lunar information gap, captured in an innovative document called Lunar Information Sharing 101 (LIS 101).

While avoiding collisions and operational interference is the immediate need, lunar information sharing can serve three further purposes:

• Peace: In a politically sensitive space environment, transparency helps reduce the risk of misinterpretation. It fosters confidence, particularly where tracking capabilities are limited.

• Sustainability: Coordinated missions can reduce redundancy and environmental impact. Data sharing enhances scientific value and encourages investment.

• Equity and Capacity Building: Open access to mission data helps democratise lunar exploration, enabling participation from actors with fewer resources.

The absence of shared standards risks creating a fragmented lunar order, one where only a few well-positioned actors benefit from available data while others remain in the dark.

The Status Quo: Fragmented and Inconsistent

Let’s be clear: sharing information about space activities is a legal obligation. Under Article XI of the 1967 Outer Space Treaties, States agree to share information on the nature, conduct, locations and results of their activities in outer space and celestial bodies. And most information is indeed shared – the problem is how.

Currently, lunar mission data is shared through a patchwork of channels: press releases, scientific publications, note verbale (a diplomatic document) to the United Nations and presentations at COPUOS. As such, information is scattered and vary widely in quality and format, missing a centralized, single and reliable platform.

This approach worked when lunar missions were rare. It is not suitable for a future where multiple landings may occur within the same week, or where commercial operators with minimal international obligations are deploying assets without clear notification practices.

The Mistrust Problem: A Lunar 'Fog of Intent'

Information sharing is not just about preventing technical mishaps; it is also about reducing strategic ambiguity. Despite geopolitical tensions, both the Artemis program and the International Lunar Research Station offer unparalleled opportunities for international cooperation.

However, in this increasingly multipolar environment, the lack of standardised information sharing may fuel suspicions and foster misinterpretations. Without streamlined and open access to timelines, landing coordinates, or mission objectives, lunar activities can be misread in many different ways. This 'fog of intent' could complicate diplomatic relationships and undercut future opportunities for cooperation and collaboration.

Principles for a Modern Transparency Framework

Consultations with space actors highlight the need for a more predictable, structured approach to lunar information sharing. These insights have been compiled into the Lunar Information Sharing 101 (LIS 101), the first document to consolidate emerging principles and streamlined practices for enhanced lunar transparency.

Five key principles stand out:

1. Minimum Disclosure: At a baseline, missions should disclose who is conducting the activity, where and when it will happen, for how long, and what will be left behind.

2. Preferred Channels: Three main avenues can support transparency: UN notifications under Article XI of the OST, space object registration under the Registration Convention, and direct publication online by operators.

3. Common Templates: Standardised reporting formats would streamline both the submission and use of data.

4. Accessible Platforms: Two proposed repositories could anchor a reliable information-sharing infrastructure:

   • A Lunar Registry, hosted by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), focused on public transparency and capacity building. This would evolve from the current Article XI submissions index, pursuant to recent discussions within the Working Group on the Status and Application of the Five UN Treaties of the COPUOS Legal Subcommittee.

   • A Lunar Database, managed by a neutral technical entity, designed to support operational coordination, risk avoidance, and mission planning. This is currently being prototyped by the Open Lunar Foundation under the name Lunar Ledger.

5. Timely Sharing: Transparency should follow a clear sequence: initial details announced a year ahead, mission hazards and end-of-life plans shared six months before, technical updates one month out, and post-mission results published in the months that follow.

Together, these tools could provide a layered, accessible system to meet the needs of diverse stakeholders.

The Realpolitik of Lunar Governance

Even as technical solutions are developed, geopolitical considerations remain a significant barrier. Differing interpretations of transparency, national security concerns, and competition for lunar resources all complicate the creation of a unified framework.

While both the Artemis Program and ILRS promote openness and peaceful uses, the States taking part in them are often times at the opposite sides of political discussions. With no shared forum dedicated to discussing lunar operations, the Moon risks to be ready primarily through the lens of power politics.

To address this issue, COPUOS has recently established an Action Team on Lunar Activities Consultations (ATLAC) to discuss these issues and consider diplomatic venues for policy and technical alignment. ATLAC’s mandate includes exploring whether an international mechanism for lunar consultation and coordination is feasible. Its success may hinge on whether it can navigate both technical harmonisation and geopolitical tensions.

No Rules, No Trust, No Moon Economy

Lunar transparency is not an abstract legal ideal; it is a prerequisite for safe, sustainable, and inclusive lunar exploration. As more actors prepare for missions, the lack of a shared reporting standard creates avoidable risks.

The good news is that the path forward does not require new treaties. It starts with common sense practices: standard templates, reliable repositories, and a commitment to share basic information in a timely manner.

We are at a critical juncture. In a time when everyone talks about the importance of transparency, the Lunar Information Sharing 101 aims to help stakeholders move from theory to practice. Through its dedicated Lunar Template, actors can now refer to a globally shared standard for streamlining their information sharing practices. Through its proposed UN Registry and Lunar Ledger, the community would finally gain clarity on where to find information about lunar activities. And last but not least, thanks to its information sharing timelines everyone would be able to predict when information on upcoming lunar activities would become available.

But policy development is just half of the equation. It is only through implementation that policies begin to impact the real world and deliver on their intended purposes. To this end, in 2026 LPP is planning to conduct dedicated case studies and table-top exercises to implement lunar information sharing within specific operational scenarios, such as high-stake surface operations (e.g. nuclear power plants), identified areas for collisions (e.g. lunar orbits), and sensitive missions (e.g. space resources prospecting). As the say goes, the devil is always in the details, so it is about time that we get to the specifics.

Whether the Moon becomes a theatre for cooperation or contention may hinge on whether we can see clearly what is happening there. Transparency won’t solve every problem—but without it, most problems will be harder to solve. The choice is ours.

Dr. Antonino Salmeri is a space lawyer specialized in the governance of lunar and space resource activities. He holds four advanced degrees in law and currently works as Director of the Lunar Policy Platform (LPP).

Samuel Jardine is a geopolitical consultant, with expertise in strategic competition, governance, and geopolitical risk in space, the polar regions and the seabed. Currently, Sam is the Policy Specialist at the Lunar Policy Platform and is Head of Research at London Politica, Senior Advisor at Luminint, and a Research Associate for Oxford University and CHACR’s Climate Change & (In)Security Project.

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More about LIS 101

Readers further interested in the LIS 101 may rewatch the Launch Event that was hosted by LPP on August 19^th, and discover more on LPP’s webpage on lunar information sharing. Any organization interested in partnering with LPP on the implementation of lunar information sharing is warmly invited to contact LPP’s Director to discuss possible terms of collaboration no later than October 1^st 2025.

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