Lunar Rush Far, Far Away as Earthlings Struggle With Laws in Space
An international space treaty created at the height of the Cold War likely makes it very difficult for any party to claim rights to the lunar water scientists now say exists.
That 1967 treaty, ratified by the U.S., China, India and 95 other countries, in effect prevents any nation from owning the moon.
The discovery of significant amounts of water on the moon increases the likelihood of a manned presence on the lunar surface in coming decades, Ashby Jones discusses the issue of land ownership there.
The agreement reflects the concerns of the two superpowers at the time, the U.S. and the Soviet Union, that space should be used peacefully, that no weapons of destruction should exist there, and that it should be used for the benefit of all mankind, according to legal experts.
Yet technology and moon exploration have advanced in the past four decades. That is forcing lawyers to grapple with how international law can govern ownership rights in outer space. It is unlikely any corporation would undertake lunar resource-extraction without far more legal certainty that its rights would be legally protected.
"The law of 'finders-keepers' just isn't going to work in regard to the moon or space," said Timothy G. Nelson, a space-law expert and lawyer in New York.
The so-called Moon Treaty of 1979 tried to advance the body of space law by saying that questions about resource extraction would be settled by an international regime to be set up in the future. Only 13 smaller nations ratified that pact. In much of the West, including the U.S., the Moon Treaty was viewed as unfriendly to business.
Other efforts have fared better. In 1998, the 15 nations participating in the International Space Station reached an agreement that lays out procedures for criminal prosecution and the protection of intellectual property.
Last summer, senior space managers from the U.S., China, Russia, Japan, South Korea and various European governments agreed to "coordinate a long-term space-exploration vision that is sustainable and affordable," according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Some entrepreneurs, who believe moon and space exploration for private companies is not far off, say the law has to catch up with the science quickly.
"We're late in starting," said Jeff Greason, the chief executive of XCOR Aerospace Inc., a California company that produces rockets and launch vehicles for manned space flights. "It's going to take longer to develop a settled legal regime than it is to develop the technology for such a mission."
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