ABSTRACT
As space agencies and private companies embark on a new era of lunar exploration in order to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon, a variety of legal innovations and reform initiatives are taking place on national and international levels. The regulation of natural resource extraction, sometimes referred to as “asteroid mining”, has been among the most debated issues among legal and policy experts and raises a number of fascinating, and at times very challenging, issues. Due to the lack of specific international law and operational norms on the issue of extracting and utilising space resources, stakeholders (including private companies and government agencies, among others) have undertaken a number of efforts to clarify these norms, in part for the purpose of providing reassurance to private investors in this new commercial industry, as well as to ensure the rational, fair, and efficient use of space resources. Beginning with the US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of 2015, which grants the right to own space resources, several states have adopted legislation to allow for and enable the extraction of space resources by private actors. Action is also being taken at the United Nations where a working group dedicated to space resource activity has been established. Non-governmental initiatives to help create a new set of international norms regarding space resources have also provided a roadmap for the way forward. The authors review how various national and international laws can facilitate the growth of this industry while taking into account the interests of all stakeholders, including the rights of states which are not yet involved in space resource activity.
