Open Lunar Foundation and COSPAR Sign MOU on the Lunar Ledger and Information Sharing to Advance Lunar Coordination
The Open Lunar Foundation and the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on March 20, 2026, at the Earth-Space Governance Conference in Leiden, Netherlands.
From Left to Right: Tanja Masson-Zwan (Open Lunar, Board Member), Mehak Sarang (Open Lunar, Director of Industry Integration, Pascale Ehrenfreund (COSPAR, President), Niklas Hedman (COSPAR, General Counsel)
Leiden, Netherlands — The Open Lunar Foundation and the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on March 20, 2026, at the Earth-Space Governance Conference in Leiden, Netherlands. The agreement marks a shared commitment to fostering scientific engagement and broader information exchange related to lunar missions and activities.
Under the MOU, the two organisations will collaborate to build on ongoing normative and policy initiatives in lunar governance to advance practical coordination and information sharing to:
Promote scientific priorities in lunar exploration and data exchange.
Strengthen mechanisms for responsible information sharing as lunar activity increases.
Encourage dialogue between the scientific community, international organisations, and other stakeholders.
Support the integration of scientific perspectives into the voluntary lunar information infrastructure, including the Lunar Ledger.
“Coordination for lunar governance relies on information sharing— it’s key to advancing Open Lunar’s mission and our core projects like the Lunar Ledger. COSPAR has been building bridges and promoting transparency and information sharing internationally since the beginning of the space age. We’re thrilled to work together to promote coordination mechanisms that enable us to continue advancing our scientific understanding of the Moon and better steward the lunar environment.”
— Mehak Sarang, Director of Industry Integration
“As lunar exploration accelerates, the collaboration between COSPAR and Open Lunar Foundation ensures that scientific insight informs cooperation, transparency, and responsible knowledge sharing, while fostering dialogue across the global community and supporting more coordinated and sustainable approaches to the governance and conduct of lunar activities.”
— COSPAR
About COSPAR
COSPAR, the largest international scientific society dedicated to promoting global cooperation in space research, was established in 1958. It serves as a neutral platform for scientific dialogue among scientists from around the world. Today, COSPAR comprises 49 national scientific institutions and 13 international scientific unions, with 14,000 space scientists actively participating in its activities, including attending assemblies, contributing to panels and roadmaps, and publishing in its journals. COSPAR’s core mission is to facilitate dialogue and encourage international collaboration among space stakeholders across the globe. It operates through scientific commissions, panels and task groups that encompass all disciplines of space science, from Earth and atmospheric sciences to planetary science, astrophysics, solar and space plasma physics, and life and microgravity sciences. A recent focus of special importance to Moon-related activities has been on strengthening ties between science and industry by forming the Committee on Industry Relations, which includes 18 leading aerospace companies worldwide.
About Open Lunar Foundation
Open Lunar Foundation is a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit advancing cooperative and transparent governance of lunar activity. Through projects such as the Lunar Ledger and the Open Lunar Fellowship Program, the organisation works with governments, industry, and researchers to shape a peaceful, sustainable future on the Moon. www.openlunar.org