Legal aspects of space mining
- Paper number
IAC-19,E7,IP,x50313
- Year
2019
- Abstract
The use of space resources is not a new phenomenon. However, the discussion of the issue gained greater importance following the approval by the United States in 2015 of the law on commercial competition in space launches, which addresses the issue of exploration and private exploitation of space and allows the appropriation of existing resources in asteroids and other "space resources" by private persons and companies. Luxembourg, for its part, approved in 2016 a space resources law, being in this way, the first European country that guaranteed private operators’ rights over the resources extracted. This puts into discussion the core principles of Space Law and their application in this case. On the one hand, space mining would allow the use of space resources to support human activities in space as well as to use them for manufacturing in space. There are space agencies that have programs underway that work in this direction. They are developing these technologies and in some cases they are planning demonstration missions in space or on Earth itself. Also, there are private companies that have asteroid mining projects, and, logically, they have celebrated the approval of these national legislations. But what would be the legal regime applicable to space mining? The 1967 Outer Space Treaty has been ratified by more than 100 States, including space powers, but does not explicitly address the issue of the exploitation of resources in space by States or private entities, without prejudice to which, some of its principles are applicable. The 1979 Moon Agreement does cover the issue, but it has been ratified by only 17 States and none of the most developed countries in the space field is listed among those States. This paper will examine the current international space regulations and will analyze whether space mining can be regulated by a national or international authority.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)