Why in the News

A spent SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage is expected to impact the Einstein Crater on the Moon on 5 August 2026. The event provides a rare scientific opportunity while highlighting gaps in international laws governing lunar activities and space debris.

What is the Outer Space Treaty?

• The Outer Space Treaty (1967) is the foundation of international space law.
• Governs activities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies.
• Prohibits national sovereignty claims over outer space (Article II).
• Requires exploration for the benefit of all countries and peaceful purposes.

What is a Controlled Source Impact?

• An impact where the mass, speed, and trajectory of the object are known beforehand.
• Helps scientists accurately study:
  • Crater formation.
  • Lunar dust (ejecta) behaviour.
  • Surface composition.

What is ATLAC?

• Action Team on Lunar Activity Consultation (ATLAC) is a United Nations (UN) working group.
• Works on developing norms for: Lunar landing coordination, Lunar dust mitigation, and Space debris management.

Why is the Impact Significant?

• Rare opportunity to study the Moon through a known artificial impact.
• Improves understanding of lunar dust, crucial for future lunar missions and habitats.
• Similar to NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) Mission (2009), which confirmed the presence of water ice.

Challenges

• No treaty specifically regulates lunar debris or spent rocket stages.
• No legal protection for lunar heritage sites (e.g., Shiv Shakti Point).
• Increasing commercial and national missions raise collision risks.
• Slow consensus-based UN rule-making.

Chandrayaan-3

• Launched by: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 2023.
• Achievement: First soft landing near the Moon’s south pole; India became the 4th country to achieve a soft landing on the Moon.
• Shiv Shakti Point: Name of the Vikram lander’s landing site.
• Components: Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover.

[2009] India has recently landed its Moon Impact Probe (MIP) on the Moon. Among the following countries, which one landed such probe on the Moon earlier?

(a) Australia

(b) Canada

(c) China

(d) Japan.