Law And Regulation Of Commercial Mining Of Minerals In Outer Space

This monograph addresses the legal and policy issues relating to the commercial exploitation of natural resources in outer space. It begins by establishing the economic necessity and technical feasibility of space mining today, an estimate of the financial commitments required, followed by a risk analysis of a commercial mining venture in space, identifying the economic and legal risks. This leads to the recognition that the legal risks must be minimised to enable such projects to be financed. This is followed by a discussion of the principles of international space law, particularly dealing with state responsibility and international liability, as well as some of the issues arising from space mining activities. Much detail is devoted to the analysis of the content of the common heritage of mankind doctrine. The monograph then attempts to balance such interests in creating a legal and policy compromise to create a new regulatory regime.

This book addresses the complex technical challenges presented by remote space mining in terms of robotics, remote power systems, space transport, IT and communications systems, and more. It also addresses the difficult oversight and regulatory issues that face states and non-state enterprises that would take on the perilous task of obtaining natural resources from the Moon and asteroids. An increasing number of countries are becoming involved in space-related activities that were previously carried out primarily by the United States and the USSR (now the Russian Federation). How these regulatory endeavors might be handled in international treaties, standards, codes of conduct or other means have become a truly international political issue. And there is yet another issue. In the past, space activities traditionally fell under the exclusive domain of government. But the last few years have seen the emergence of the private sector of "space entrepreneurs." This poses many challenges for the pre-existing governance regimes and state-based conceptions of international law. This book examines the adequacies and ambiguities in treaty provisions and national laws and in currently accepted practices involving the growing exploration and exploitation of space-based natural resources.

The book speaks to the need for a regulatory framework with regards to space resource utilization. In doing so, significant elements of the subject matter have been explored, taking into account the different phases of a space mission and the perspectives of the various actors and participants in the space arena. The book tackles the subject matter from a number of angles. An analysis of the current national and international governance frameworks is performed, with regards to resource extraction and utilization in space. The view of established and emerging space nations is analyzed next, specifically with extraction and utilization in mind, and in light of the new United State (US) Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act (CSLCA) of 2015. A brief analysis of the various budgets allocated to space exploration is given.

This monograph addresses the legal and policy issues relating to the commercial exploitation of natural resources in outer space. It begins by establishing the economic necessity and technical feasibility of space mining today, an estimate of the financial commitments required, followed by a risk analysis of a commercial mining venture in space, identifying the economic and legal risks. This leads to the recognition that the legal risks must be minimised to enable such projects to be financed. This is followed by a discussion of the principles of international space law, particularly dealing with state responsibility and international liability, as well as some of the issues arising from space mining activities. Much detail is devoted to the analysis of the content of the common heritage of mankind doctrine. The monograph then attempts to balance such interests in creating a legal and policy compromise to create a new regulatory regime.

Within the next 5 to 10 years commercial corporations will begin exploratory mining operations on asteroids orbiting the earth. While this is a huge leap forward in human development and technological advancement, current national regulation and law providing mining rights in space do not exist. International treaties and recognized space law, in regards to commercial collection and exploitation of resources, is vague and leaves a great deal to interpretation. The purpose of this comparative case study is to determine how the US interprets what is known as 'Common Access Areas, ' or those areas outside of national jurisdictional authority, in regards to commercial mining operations. The study is meant to identify if legal precedent exists in similar areas that will either allow the U.S. to continue commercial mining in space without international clarification, or if precedent indicates that international accord must met. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION * Overview * Primary Research Question * Secondary Research Questions * Assumptions * Definitions * Limitations * Delimitations * Conclusion * CHAPTER 2 TECHNOLOGICAL ACHIEVEMENT AND THE INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE: A LOOK INTO THE CONTINUATION OF EVOLVING SPACE LAW * Common vs Civil Law: Discrepancies within the International Law Framework * Common Law Tradition * Civil Law Tradition * The Need for Analogies in Developing International Law * Foundations of Space Law * Law of the Sea and UNCLOS * Antarctic Treaty * Current Space Laws * National Space Laws * International Space Treaties * Treaty on Principles Governing Activities of States * Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts * Convention on International Liability * Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies * Why Space Mining * Proposed Laws * CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY * Preliminary Steps in Research Design * Knowledge Claims * Strategy * Qualitative, Quantitative, or Mixed Methods Approach * Design * Data Collection Methods * Data Analysis Methods * Fact * Theory * CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS REGARDING U.S. PRECEDENCE OF COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES WITHIN AREAS OF COMMON ACCESS * Presentation of Analysis: Survey Demographics * Common Heritage of Mankind, Similar Principles, and What Has Been Adopted by the U.S. * Secondary Research Question 1 * Facts * Theory * U.S. Actions Establishing, or Denying, Precedence for the Allowance of Space Mining * Secondary Research Question 2 * Facts * The High Seas * Antarctica * Space * Theory * High Seas * Space * Secondary Research Question 3 * Fact * Theory * The ASTEROIDS Act * Secondary Research Question 4 * Possible International Response to U.S. Pursuance of Legalizing Commercial Space Mining * Secondary Research Question 5 * Fact * Theory * Summary * CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS * Interpretation of Results * Common Heritage of Mankind, Similar Principles, and What Has Been Adopted by the U.S. * U.S. Actions Establishing, or Denying, Precedence for the Allowance of Space Mining * High Seas * Antarctica * Section Summary * The ASTEROIDS Act and What It Does, and Does Not, Do * International Response to U.S. Pursuance of Legalizing Commercial Space Mining * Areas for Further Study * Conclusion

The thawing Antarctic continent offers living space and marine and mineral resources that were previously inaccessible. This book discusses how revisiting the Antarctic Treaty System and dividing up the continent preemptively could spare the world serious conflict. The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements—collectively known as the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS)—regulate the seventh continent, which is the only continent without a native human population. The main treaty within the ATS came into force in 1961 and suspended all territorial claims in Antarctica. The Antarctic Environmental Protocol followed in 1998 and prohibited any minerals exploitation in the continent. With this prohibition up for review in 2048, this book asks whether the Antarctic Treaty can continue to protect Antarctica. Doaa Abdel-Motaal—an expert on environmental issues who has traveled through the Arctic and Antarctic—explains that the international community must urgently turn its attention to examining how to divide up the thawing continent in a peaceful manner. She discusses why the Antarctic Treaty is unlikely to be an adequate measure in the face of international competition for invaluable resources in the 21st century. She argues that factors such as global warming, the growth in climate refugees that the world is about to witness, and the increasingly critical quest for energy resources will make the Antarctic continent a highly sought-after objective. Readers will come to appreciate that what has likely protected Antarctica so far was not the Antarctic Treaty but the continent's harsh climate and isolation. With Antarctica potentially becoming habitable only a few decades from now, revisiting the Antarctic Treaty in favor of an orderly division of the continent is likely to be the best plan for avoiding costly conflict.

The purpose of this book is to propose a legal regime to govern the exploitation of natural resources of the moon and other celestial bodies. Considering, on the one side, the interest shown by states and private operators to extract and use extraterrestrial natural resources and, on the other, the absence of specific rules dealing with such an option, the establishment of a legal framework to regulate the exploitation of natural resources of the moon and other celestial bodies is needed so as to ensure its peaceful, safe and orderly development.

The Space Race was a rivalry of the twentieth century between two great Super Powers in the Cold War, the Soviet Union (USSR) and the United States (USA), aimed at achieving the highest positions in space flight capabilities. It derives from the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race that followed the Second World War. The technological advantage needed to quickly achieve milestones in space flight was considered essential for national security and combined with the symbolism and ideology to time. The Space Race led to pioneering efforts to launch artificial satellites, unmanned space probes to the Moon, Venus and Mars, and human space flights in low Earth orbit and the Moon.