New Technologies in International Law / Tymofeyeva, Crhák et al.

forecasts, studies, and journal articles the common thread of lower barriers of entry and advancement in technology are referred to as the main drivers of this expected growth. A huge limitation to this growth in the area of space resources is ownership of those resources and how they can be used. Article 2 of the OST reads “Outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.” I doubt that in 1967, the drafters of the OST could have imagined those thirty words to be such an obstacle today. 2. Current National Legislation and Policies States have begun to address the issue with domestic legislation in absence of any new hard international law on the topic. In 2015, the United States enacted the US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act, sometimes known as the Spurring Private Aerospace Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship Act (Competitiveness Act). 310 Part of that broadly scoped act seeks to address the issue of national appropriation by stating; A United States citizen engaged in commercial recovery of an asteroid resource or a space resource under this chapter shall be entitled to any asteroid resource or space resource obtained, including to possess, own, transport, use, and sell the asteroid resource or space resource obtained in accordance with applicable law, including the international obligations of the United States. 311 This was not without criticism though. An earlier attempt aimed specifically at space resources was H.R. 1508, titled ‘Space Resource Exploration and Utilization Act of 2015’. 312 While H.R. 1508 was being debated in Committee, Prof. Joanne Gabrynowicz from the University of Mississippi penned a letter to the ranking member voicing serious concerns that the proposed bill appeared to be in conflict with the U.N. Outer Space Treaty, irregardless of the phrase “consistent with the existing international obligations of the United States”, 313 which is now codified into law as “… obtained in accordance with applicable law, including the international obligations of the United States”. 314 Be that as it may, the enactment of the Competitiveness Act broke the figurative dam. Shortly thereafter, Luxembourg enacted legislation specifically allowing space resources to be owned, 315 followed by the UAE in 2019 316 and Japan in 2021. 317 310 H.R. 2262, 114 th Cong. (2015) (enacted) (Competitiveness Act). 311 51 U.S.C. § 51303 (2015). 312 accessed 4 November 2023. 313 H.R 1508, 114 th Cong. at 20 (Minority Views) (2015). Even though H.R. 1508 died in committee due to the end of the Congressional session, the text was consolidated into the Competitiveness Act. 314 See (n 311). 315 Loi du 20 juillet 2017 sur l’exploration et l’utilisation des ressources de l’espace , Luxembourg (2017). 316 Federal Law On the Regulation of the Space Sector (No.12) , UAE (2019). 317 Act on Promotion of Business Activities Related to the Exploration and Development of Space Resources Act No. 83 , Japan (2021).

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