In this new space age, countries and private space companies together are aiming to go to celestial bodies such as the Moon, Mars and Asteroids. To facilitate their long-term presence on these bodies, programs such as Artemis led by the U.S and the International Lunar Research Station led by China arecurrently planning to studying the feasibility of extracting and using resources found on these celestial bodies.Further, there are also ambitious plans to extract potentially valuable resources from the moon, and asteroids and bring them back to earth for utilization. This has led countries to enact policies and legislations to promote space resource activities and offer ownership rights over the resources extracted. India too has successfully performed missions to the moon through its Chandrayaan program and is planning to conduct more future missions to the moon and beyond, including in collaboration with other international partners. Ithas also encouraged its non-governmental entities to engage in the commercial recovery of space resource in accordance with applicable law, including its international obligations, under its Indian Space Policy, 2023.  However, it is important to ensure that space resource activities are committed in accordance with obligations under International Law. For example, Article II of the Outer Space treaty, prohibits appropriation of the Outer Space including celestial bodies. In that case, how does existing international law govern these activities?Further, there are concerns that if these space resources activities are not governed properly, it may lead to conflicts in outer space and back on earth. In that case are the existing norms sufficient to govern these resources responsibly and sustainably or do we need a new normative framework to govern these activities? To facilitate an inclusive and multistakeholder dialogue on this issue, the U.N Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space has started the Working Group on Legal Aspects of Space Resource Activities. How will this multilateral initiative function? What promises does this initiative hold in shaping the norms and future of space resource activities? And what is India’s possible role in this initiative?Episode ContributorsSteven Freeland (PhD, LLM, LLB, BCom) is Emeritus Professor of International Law at Western Sydney University, where he was previously the Dean of the School of Law, and Professorial Fellow at Bond University. He also holds Visiting or Adjunct positions at various other Universities/Institutes in Copenhagen, Vienna, Toulouse, Hong Kong, Montreal, Kuala Lumpur, Vancouver, Mumbai and London. Prior to becoming an academic, he had a 20-year career as an international commercial lawyer and an investment banker. He is a Member of the Australian Space Agency Advisory Board and has been an advisor to the Australian, New Zealand, Norwegian and several other Governments on issues relating to national space legislative frameworks and policy. He represents the Australian Government at Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS) meetings and, in June 2021, was appointed by UNCOPUOS as Vice-Chair of a 5-year ‘Working Group on Legal Aspects of Space Resource Activities’. He has also been a Visiting Professional within the Appeals Chamber at the International Criminal Court, and a Special Advisor to the Danish Foreign Ministry in matters related to the International Criminal Court. He is a co-Principal of specialised space law firm Azimuth Advisory, a Member of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Future Council on the Future of Space, a Member of the Abu Dhabi Space Debate Strategy Council, an Honorary Director of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL), a Member of the Advisory Board of the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC), and a Member of the Space Law Committee of the International Law Association. In 2022, he was presented with a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ by the International Institute of Space Law, th