When NASA attempted to return to the moon for the first time in 50 years on January 8, more than $108 million in equipment and development was at risk. The agency earned the ire of Navajo Native American people, who demanded the launch be halted because of the unusual inclusion of the payload.

The Peregrine lander (which completed a controlled reentry late last week) contained human ashes, including those of famed science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke. The commercial partnership also allowed paying customers to send souvenirs to the moon. As space exploration becomes increasingly specialized and commercialized, you can now send your favorite things to the moon. So what does this mean ethically and legally?

The moon is open for business

American company Astrobotic has a Peregrine ship the size of a small car. Fatal fuel problems arose shortly after launch from Cape Canaveral on the Vulcan Centaur rocket. There are “vanity boxes” on board. The idea came about thanks to the company’s partnership with international shipping company DHL.

Under the agreement, anyone will be able to send a 2.5 centimeter by 5 centimeter package to the lunar surface for less than $500. In addition to size, there are a few other restrictions on what each package can contain.

Founded in 2007 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Astrobotic is one of several American companies that provides commercial services to NASA for the delivery of scientific and technological payloads to the Moon. Scientific instruments and many scientific groups from six countries were also included on the Sapsan ship.

Perhaps surprisingly, sending ash into space is nothing new with suborbital and near-Earth orbiters. Two American companies provide this service, which costs only a few thousand dollars: Celestis and Elysium Space. This app is supported by many people, including astronauts who have been in space.

A lunar funeral (yes, you can buy one) is more expensive; approximately $13,000.

Commercial cargo launched from U.S. soil requires approval, but this approval process only covers security, national security, and foreign policy issues. If successful, Peregrine will be the first commercial lunar burial. This is uncharted territory as other worlds become increasingly accessible; However, this is not the first time the issue has been raised.

NASA has promised future consultations after the outrage over the Navajo who carried Eugene Shoemaker’s ashes to the moon aboard the Lunar Prospector probe 20 years ago. Like many other indigenous peoples, the Navajo Nation considers the Moon sacred and opposes its use as a memorial site. But NASA said at a press conference that it had no control over what happened on the Falcon, underscoring the gap between commercial enterprise and international space law.

A legal minefield

Another issue concerns the regulations that apply in each country regarding where and how human ashes can be placed, processed, transported and dispersed into space. For example, in Germany, ashes must be buried in a cemetery.

As the process of privatization of space accelerates, ethical and legal impasses become deeper. The Outer Space Treaty (USC) prohibits national appropriation, declaring that space is “the property of all humanity.” But it doesn’t say what private companies and individuals can do.

The latest Artemis Accords, signed by 32 countries, extend protection to historically important lunar objects. However, this protection only applies to governments, not commercial missions. And no one has the moon, like any other earthly or celestial body, to give him the right to burial. The agreement requires states to authorize and control activities in space. It requires “due consideration” of the interests of other states.

Many countries, such as Indonesia and New Zealand, have space laws that provide grounds for refusing to use payloads that are not in their national interest. Countries that apparently lack such foundations, including Australia and the United States, may need to consider expanding this model with the arrival of the commercial world traditionally in the government arena.

Where to draw the line?

Earth’s orbit is already full of older satellites and more distant devices like Elon Musk’s Tesla. We’ve already dispersed space probes to other worlds, including the Moon, Mars, Titan and Venus, but many of them may turn out to be treasure rather than trash, according to space archaeologist Alice Gorman.

For example, Apollo astronauts left official souvenirs, such as a plaque marking man’s first steps on the lunar surface. Some also left personal photos, such as Apollo 16’s Charles Duke, who left a framed family photo.

But sending clippings of your hair or your pet dog’s ashes to the moon may not be considered culturally or historically significant. So the challenge is where we want to draw the line in the sand when we go into space and go to the shores of other worlds. We cannot and should not turn back the clock on private space ventures.

But this mission, which failed due to ash and wasted cargo, exemplifies undiscovered problems in the legal and ethical infrastructure to support commercial activity. It is worth pausing to think about future commercializations such as asteroid mining and possible colonization of space.