The treaty bans nuclear weapons in space, forbids nations to make claims to celestial real estate, and clearly allows for private space enterprise. It reads with an optimism that seems strange today in the era of the mothballed space shuttle. The foundational document that governs doing stuff in space is the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, on which the United States, Russia, China, and more than 100 other countries are signatories. It might be fun to imagine Battlestar Galactica–type conflicts over resources in space, but why spend millions on space weapons when you can hurt your competitor at home and on the cheap? The reverse is also a concern: Disagreements over space could influence disputes on Earth. Current efforts to clarify the legal status of asteroid-mined resources, if approached the wrong way, she says, could guarantee Arctic-like international disputes over future space activities.
If emerging space technologies can be thought of as melting Arctic ice, it might be time to start discussing some basic rules before everything thaws.
There is a system of international governance in place for the Arctic, but she says it is being strained by the recent thaw because, “it’s so much easier to govern something when you can’t get to it.” It’s an example of how contested things can get even when there is a system of rules in place, according to Joanne Gabrynowicz, a space lawyer and editor emeritus of the Journal of Space Law at the University of Mississippi School of Law. Russia has pursued a different path: In 2007, the country used a submersible to plant its flag on the seabed at the North Pole. The United States and Canada have been making careful geological measurements in order to determine territorial boundaries. Impenetrable ice was once the foil for those who dreamed of a Northwest Passage, but global warming has made the oil- and natural-gas-rich Arctic seabed accessible for the first time, and there has been a rush to lay claims to territory. Is there a system for dealing with any conflicts that asteroid mining will likely arouse? The historical record certainly suggests the possibility of bitter, even violent disputes.
If these mining ventures are successful, the world could see billions of dollars flowing down from space to American companies.
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