Yet, as the geopolitical order shifts, new challenges to the governance of space emerge. The PPP’s non-binding status has allowed a flexible and organic development enabling the Policy to be updated as scientific understanding has developed. The PPP predates the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (Outer Space Treaty/OST) ( OST 1967). The Committee of Space Research’s (COSPAR) Planetary Protection Policy (PPP) ( COSPAR 2020a) has sought to protect the space environment from “harmful contamination” which would endanger the integrity of the scientific exploration of outer space including the search for life. Finally, this paper will consider whether a broader “environmental” framework is needed as space activities diversity in type and location. However, it is also necessary to consider and understand the scientific basis not just for the specifics of the policy itself but the necessity of it. This will involve looking at the existing policies, as well as the governance framework they sit within. This paper will examine the challenges of developing and maintaining an effective planetary protection regime in this “New Space” era. However as private and “non-science” space activities proliferate and begin to spread their reach beyond Earth orbit, the Planetary Protection Policy is being tested. While space activities beyond Earth orbit have been the exclusive preserve of government scientific space agencies this has posed little problem. The policy is linked to Article IX of the Outer Space Treaty and its provision calling for the avoidance of “harmful contamination” of the Moon and other celestial bodies. However, as Committee of Space Research is an independent organization without any legal mandate the Planetary Protection Policy is an example of so-called “soft law” or a non-binding international instrument, in short, no one is under any legal obligation to comply with them. The Policy is produced by a group of scientific experts and subsequently enjoys high regard among the scientific and space community.
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