I have watched His Majesty Trump turn everything he touches into a steam pile of manure…..and he has his watery eyes turned to Space.
We Americans pride ourselves to be a nation of laws and we abide by those laws and it is what keeps our nation great among nations….well that was true until the election of 2016.
The new field of law will be that of the issues and situations in space.
I have been writing about space for awhile now (I seem to be the only one that cares enough to post) with the push for a new space force and the mining possibilities in space will give an usual chance for clarity for right now there is very little of that.
The Law and Order (the reality not some idea for a new TV show) is what is interesting and I wrote about it on several occasions…..https://lobotero.com/2019/04/12/space-law/ and again……
The first thing that may violate laws and treaties……
The Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit wants options for an unmanned orbital outpost to support space experiments and operations — a logistics hub that might even grow, DIU’s solicitation suggests, to a larger manned space station.
Pentagon Eyes Military Space Station
Then I read another space story that again made me think of existing laws and treaties……
16 Psyche is composed of iron, nickel, gold and platinum, the only asteroid we know of that is 95% or more metal. Scientists believe that the asteroid had a rocky surface at one time, but lost it due to several violent collisions billions of years ago.
The potato-shaped asteroid is estimated to have a value of $10,000 quadrillion. That’s enough staggering wealth to hypothetically make every single on Earth a billionaire.
A 2018 report said the value of 16 Psyche was $15 quintillion, while another source said the asteroid could be worth an unbelievable $700 quintillion, enough to give every human being on Earth about $92 billion each. What is NASA waiting for?
Now to make clear the US among others signed a treaty called the “Principles and Actions Governing the Exploration and Use of Outer Space”…..read it for yourself (Hahaha like anyone would take the time…I am so cute thinking they would)……https://2009-2017.state.gov/t/isn/5181.htm
Or the UN treaty……https://www.ifrc.org/docs/idrl/I515EN.pdf
Let us not forget what Obama did as president……
On November 25, 2015, President Obama signed into law the US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act (H.R. 2262). This Act encompasses four titles: I. Spurring Private Aerospace Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship (acronym: SPACE), II. Commercial Remote Sensing, III. Office of Space Commerce and IV. Space Resource Exploration and Utilization.
https://www.jurist.org/commentary/2015/11/frans-vonderdunk-space-launch/
Or more news……https://www.space.com/33440-space-law.html
Read the bill that made the Act possible……https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-114hr2262enr/pdf/BILLS-114hr2262enr.pdf
Since we live in this instant gratification and have lost the ability to read I have included some videos which simpler minds will appreciate (if they get this far into this post)…….
Plus a little more…..
The Market forces will determine the need and the supply……
There is so much more to this situation than anyone wants to admit…..exploitative forces will be at work if they already are not.,,,,someone needs to keep an eye on the legality…..of the Space Force of the commercial ideas for space and the arming of space junk.
That someone might as well be me!
“Lego Ergo Scribo”
Maybe Harvard Law School should start a Degree course in Space Law? No harm in getting ahead of the game! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
Sounds like a good idea….as I read the treaty of 1969 everything the countries are doing could be a violation…..this fascinates me……chuq