CYIL vol. 13 (2022)

CYIL 13 ȍ2022Ȏ

HOLES IN THE HULL

HOLES IN THE HULL Legal Obstacles to Celestial Body Mining

Charles Bird

Abstract: Extraterrestrial mining of resources has the potential to create an entirely new private industry in space. However, there is no clear global legal framework for such. This paper will primarily address U.S. based law in conjunction with international law on the subject. The article describes the general state of law in this industry and contradictions between domestic and international law on the topic. The article will further introduce future endeavors that are currently being developed and put into practice. Resumé : Mimozemská těžba zdrojů má potenciál vytvořit ve vesmíru zcela nový soukromý průmysl. Na to však neexistuje žádný právní rámec. Tento článek se v této oblasti primárně zabý vá americkým právem, a to ve spojení s mezinárodním právem. Článek předně popisuje obecný stav práva v tomto odvětví a rozpory mezi vnitrostátním a mezinárodním právem, a následně představí legislativní snahy, které jsou v současné době dale rozvíjeny a uváděny do praxe. Key words : Outer Space Treaty; Competitiveness Act; Artemis Accords; Moon Agreement; space mining About the Author : Charles Bird is a lecturer at Charles University, Faculty of Law in Prague, Czech Republic. He teaches Equity and Trusts and legal English. He earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence from Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, Kansas in the United States and earned his Master of Laws in public international law from the University of Kent in Canterbury, England. He is currently a Ph.D. student at Charles University with an emphasis on property rights of celestial bodies. Introduction Extra-planetary resource mining is no longer idealist or wishful thinking but is now a tangible goal that could be operational in less than a decade. The question to some is why is this important, or, in some cases, is this even achievable. Outside of a purely profit-oriented approach to space resources, mining and retaining these resources in space will allow the use of these raw materials, including water, which in turn will increase the longevity and reduce the cost of space activities. 1 States such as the United States, Luxembourg, the UAE, and Japan have enacted legislation that permits private ownership of space resources and have joined together in forming the Artemis Accords that addresses private ownership of these resources. This article seeks to determine if there are any international or domestic frameworks that allows for private ownership of extracted space resources. In December 2014 the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the Hayabusa 2 satellite . Its mission was to target Ryugu, a C-type asteroid, and study and analyze its makeup by successfully deploying an impactor to its surface in order to gather samples that have been unexposed to the environment of space. 2 On 5 April 2019, JAXA 1 STEELE, J. Luxembourg, and the Exploitation of Outer Space, 29 Nottingham L.J. 32, 33 (2021). 2 FOSTER, C. Excuse Me, You’re Mining My Asteroid: Space Property Rights and the U.S. Space Resource Exploration and Utilization Act of 2015, 2016 U. Ill. J.L. Tech. & Policy 407, 414 (2016).

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