Space Mining Operations in a Legal Gray Area
It all sounds mind-bogglingly expensive and complicated, and it is. But those planning the operations have more earthly concerns to deal with, too. Mining asteroids or the moon appears to violate many of the tenets of international space law.
The most important of these is the UN’s Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which in rather pompous language states that “the exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit of all countries and shall be the province of all mankind”. It also specifically prohibits states from making territorial claims in space.
“States cannot claim rights over an asteroid,” says Joanne Wheeler, a lawyer at London legal practice CMS Cameron McKenna and a UK government adviser on the UN’s Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. “The Outer Space Treaty says the moon and celestial bodies such as asteroids are not subject to national appropriation. Whether that means no one owns the asteroids, or we all do under some common heritage, what’s clear here is there is no state sovereignty over them.”
What applies to sovereign states probably also applies to private companies. “It is not possible for Planetary Resources to say it owns all of an asteroid even if they are the first there,” says Wheeler. If the ownership of an asteroid is in question, who, then, has legal title to the ores extracted from it and sold back on Earth? Again, it is not clear, though Wheeler points out that there is already a legitimate market for space rocks in the form of meteorites. This probably puts Planetary Resources in the clear.
(via Who owns asteroids or the moon? - opinion - 04 June 2012 - New Scientist)
