The Grey Side of the Moon, a lunar security and governance tabletop simulation, brought together around 27 participants, including ambassadors and diplomats from states associated with both the Artemis Accords and the International Lunar Research Station, UN officials and specialists in space, security, cyber policy and law, to explore lunar security and governance. Delivered jointly by the Open Lunar Foundation and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy on 7 September 2026, alongside the UNIDIR Outer Space Security Conference, it was designed and facilitated by Samuel Jardine, with Simon Cleobury as co-facilitator. Supported by Expert Guides from Secure World Foundation, European Space Policy Institute, Leiden University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Project Ploughshares, and ETH Zurich, participants tested competing legal and political positions against realistic lunar operating constraints. Participants valued the exercise’s connection between diplomacy and practical lunar operations, and how it built an understanding around emerging lunar security and coordination challenges.

Published by the European Space Policy Institute, August 2026. Co-authored by Samuel Jardine (Open Lunar Foundation) and Therese Jones (ESPI). Findings from a tabletop in which four asymmetric actors established operations in the same area of the lunar south pole without agreed coordination arrangements.

This decision-logic toolkit examines coordination scenarios at high-traffic lunar south pole sites, applying a novel three-ring operational area framework to determine where and how cooperation is required. It offers lunar operators and policymakers a practical method for sizing operational areas and resolving overlap before conflicts arise.