‘Hostile’ Russia Excluded From U.S. Moon Mining Pact: Reuters
Russia will not be an early partner in the United States’ international agreement on moon mining rights it seeks to negotiate with other countries in the coming weeks, Reuters reported Tuesday.
The Trump administration’s so-called Artemis Accords agreement reportedly seeks to establish “safety zones” around future moon bases to prevent damage or interference from rivals, Reuters cited unnamed people familiar with the proposed pact as saying. U.S. President Donald Trump last month signed an executive order allowing commercial lunar mining, a move that Moscow compared to colonialism.
The U.S. Defense Department increasingly views Russia as a hostile spacefaring country due to its “threatening” satellite movements toward U.S. spy satellites and as a result won’t include Moscow in early Artemis Accords negotiations, Reuters cited its sources as saying.
The U.S. Space Force has in recent months accused Russia of testing an anti-satellite weapon and of deploying its own satellites to follow an American satellite in a “disturbing” manner.
U.S. officials reportedly plan to formally negotiate the Artemis Accords with Canada, European countries, Japan and the United Arab Emirates in the coming weeks. The Trump administration views them as having “like-minded” interests in lunar mining.
A Reuters source denied that the deal amounts to “some territorial claim.”
“The idea is if you are going to be coming near someone’s operations, and they’ve declared safety zones around it, then you need to reach out to them in advance, consult and figure out how you can do that safely for everyone,” they were quoted as saying.
The Artemis Accords pact is also expected to trigger controversy with rival China, Reuters reported.
The U.S. and Russia have been pursuing plans in recent years to return to the moon and explore further into outer space.
NASA’s multibillion-dollar Artemis program seeks to land people on the moon by 2024 and begin exploration by 2028, while Russia’s Roscosmos space agency plans to establish a long-term base there in the next two decades.
(c) The Moscow Times
“Russia’s Roscosmos space agency plans to establish a long-term base there in the next two decades”
Russia first have to get there. I doubt Russia have the technical ability, or money to launch moon missions. They become too expensive even for the US in the 70s.
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The Moskali barking about colonialism when that is exactly what they are planning.
Democracies should only be invited since democracies don’t go to war with themselves.
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Bayethe commented on my sad article about Suzanna.
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Didn’t even know he was still around.
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I think they are all around. We are a voice that cannot be ignored.
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What site is he on?
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He made an anonymous comment without a WP profile. But i know it is him. He was one of the few i got along with from time to time.
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Hello all. Yes it is indeed me. I have always followed the news articles but chose not to comment because I realised there was little to no room for any opposing opinions on certain Issues. However Mike’s post about the passing of his loved one touched me so much I decided to break my radio silence to give my heartfelt condolences. This comes from the heart and I wish him well.
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In the beginning and in the end we are all human. Thanks Bayethe.
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“…to prevent damage or interference from rivals”
I do hope that there won’t be any rivals. there should be only a few reliable countries involved, like Britain, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, maybe Poland, the Scandinavians and the Baltic countries. Definitely no Chinks, Ruskies, Muslims or any other jerk nations.
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