This article was originally published conversation. This publication contributed article to an article on Space.com Experts: op-ed & Insights.
Wayne n White Jr Talk to One Space Technologies Inc. He is a member and former director of the National Space Society and an associate fellow at AIAA.
Civilians and businesses may one day begin to settle the universe and celestial bodies forever. However, if no governing laws are enacted in the meantime, space settlers could face legal chaos.
Many wars on Earth Begin over territorial disputes. To avoid such conflicts in outer space, states should consider enacting laws in states that specify the scope of authority of each settler in outer space and provide a process for resolving the conflict.
I have been researching and writing about space law for over 40 years. Through my work, I have studied ways to avoid war and resolve conflicts in space.
Space Properties
Space is an international region, allowing businesses and individuals to freely land spatial objects, including satellites, human spacecraft and robotic spacecraft, and facilities that exist in humans, to operate anywhere and anywhere. This includes both outer space and celestial bodies such as the moon.
1967 Space Treaty To prohibit claims of outer space and celestial territory Avoid conflicts. However, without the laws of the nation governing space settlers, the nation may seek to protect the interests of its citizens and businesses by withdrawing from the treaty. The citizens were then able to claim the territory in which the space objects were placed.
The state enforces its territorial claims through military force. An alternative to the territorial claims I have researched and come to like is to enact the actual ones. Property rights It is consistent with the Treaty of Space.
Territorial claims can only be claimed by the central government, but property rights apply to the private, corporation, and central governments that own the property. Property Rights Act can specify how much authority a settler has and protect investments in outer space and celestial bodies.
Space Treaty
1967 Space Treaty It has been enforced. As of January 2025, 115 countries The party of this treaty includes the United States and most countries that have space programs.
The Space Treaty outlines the principles of peaceful exploration and use of outer space and celestial bodies. However, the treaty does not specify how it applies to the citizens and businesses of the state who are parties to the treaty.
For this reason, the Space Treaty is primarily It is not a self-execution treaty. This means that US courts cannot apply the terms of the treaty to individual citizens and businesses. To do this, the United States must enact national laws that explain how the terms of the treaty apply to non-governmental agencies.
One article from the Space Treaty Participating countries state that they need to ensure that all citizens’ space activities comply with the terms of the treaty. Another article It then empowers these countries to enact laws governing civilian and corporate civil space activities.
This is particularly relevant to the US, where commercial activities in space are available. It will increase rapidly.
United Nations Charter
The Space Treaty states that participating countries are international law. United Nations Charter.
The UN Charter contains two concepts of international law related to property rights. One is the rights of the state I’ll protect myselfand the other one is Non-interference principle.
Principles of International Law Non-interference Give the nation the right to exclude others from the realms where their spatial objects and ongoing activity are.
But how do states apply this concept to their private citizens and businesses? Do individuals and businesses have the right to exclude others to prevent interference in their activities? What can they do if foreigners interfere or cause damage?
The UN Charter’s principle of non-interference controls relationships between nations, not individuals. Therefore, US courts may not enforce the principle of interference when two private parties are involved.
Therefore, American citizens and businesses have no right to exclude others from their spatial objects or areas of ongoing activity unless the United States enacts laws that grant them that right.
US laws and regulations
The US has We have realized the need for more specific laws. Manage private space activities. It has sought international support for the initiative through its non-binding Artemis agreement.
As of January 2025, 50 countries have signed the Artemis Agreement.
The agreement explains how important elements of the Space Treaty are to civilian space activities. Allowed in one section of the agreement Safety zonepublic and civilian staff, equipment and operations are protected from harmful interference by other people. The right to self-defense and non-interference from the UN Charter provides the legal basis for the safety zone.
Aside from the restrictions on satellite and rocket launches, the US only enacts a few laws. Commercial space launches competitiveness 2015 – Dominate private activities in outer space and celestial bodies.
As part of this law, US citizens who collect space or celestial mineral resources have the right to own, transport, use and sell those resources. This law is an example of national law that clarifies how the Space Treaty applies to US citizens and businesses.
Property rights
Establishing property rights in space allows for the owner of property to clarify what rights and obligations they place on property and the scope of their authority over property.
All countries on Earth They have a form of property rights in their legal system.. Property rights usually include rights that include ownership, management, development, exclusion, enjoyment, sale, lease and mortgage property. Enacting real estate rights in space creates a market for the purchase, sale, rental and mortgage of property.
The Space Treaty prohibits territorial claims, so the right to space property is not necessarily “acquisition of land.” Property rights function slightly differently in space than in Earth.
Space property rights must be Based on the authorities What the Space Treaty gives to the nation. This power allows you to govern your citizens and assets by enacting laws and enforcing them in court.
Space asset rights include safety zones around the property to prevent interference. Therefore, people must obtain permission from the property owner before entering the safety zone.
When a US property owner sells a space property to a foreign citizen or company, the space object on the property must either remain on the property or be replaced with the buyer’s space object. It ensures that the owner’s country still has authority over the property.
Also, if someone transfers their space objects to a foreigner or company, the buyer must modify their objects. International registrationwhich would grant the state’s authority to buyers over space objects and surrounding property.
A state may avoid some territorial disputes when it enacts real estate laws in space that clearly explain how property changes when it is sold. Establishing property rights can reduce legal risks for commercial space businesses and support permanent reconciliation of outer space and celestial bodies.
The US property rights law includes Reciprocal regulationsencouraging other countries to pass similar laws, allowing participating countries to recognize each other’s property rights.
Reciprocal regulations allow property rights to support economic development. Commercial Company The world is beginning to look to outer space as the next major area of economic growth.
