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Trump signs an executive order allowing mining the moon and asteroids:
In 2015, the Obama administration signed the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act (CSLCA, or H.R. 2262) into law. This bill was intended to "facilitate a pro-growth environment for the developing commercial space industry" by making it legal for American companies and citizens to own and sell resources that they extract from asteroids and off-world locations (like the moon, Mars or beyond).
On April 6th, the Trump administration took things a step further by signing an executive order that formally recognizes the rights of private interests to claim resources in space. This order, titled "Encouraging International Support for the Recovery and Use of Space Resources," effectively ends the decades-long debate that began with the signing of the Outer Space Treaty in 1967.
This order builds on both the CSLCA and Space Directive-1 (SD-1), which the Trump administration signed into law on December 11th, 2017. It establishes that "Americans should have the right to engage in commercial exploration, recovery, and use of resources in outer space, consistent with applicable law," and that the United States does not view space as a "global commons."
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Muad'Dave on Tuesday April 14 2020, @11:29AM (8 children)
That treaty only mentions "States" - that means governments. The treaty is moot on corporations; that's what his EO is about. In 1967 it was unthinkable that a company could have the resources to build/launch/recover their own rockets or have any meaningful access to space. Things have changed.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 14 2020, @12:25PM
I figured he did it because he heard Obama was against it.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 14 2020, @12:49PM (4 children)
Sure, but if the companies are using Trump EO, then that means they are "flying under the flag" of the US.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by khallow on Tuesday April 14 2020, @01:18PM (2 children)
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 14 2020, @01:54PM (1 child)
I thought I heard that the Outer Space Treaty was the WORST treaty EVER negotiated, and that the US was being RIPPED OFF and taken advantage of, and that the other nations were laughing at us.
THAT'S why we have to withdraw from it.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday April 14 2020, @01:57PM
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Tuesday April 14 2020, @08:07PM
Note that a lot of European colonisation in the 18th century was driven by private interests. For example, the British East India company led colonisation in the Indian subcontinent; and likewise colonisation in much of south east asia was driven by private enterprise. Nonetheless I don't think anyone would claim that it wasn't "British" colonisation.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Wednesday April 15 2020, @02:17PM (1 child)
>The treaty is moot on corporations;
Not so. The first line of Article VI: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Outer_Space_Treaty_of_1967 [wikisource.org]
i.e., it's the responsibility of every signatory government to ensure that their citizens, corporations, etc. adhere to the treaty. Treaties bind the citizens of a nation, not just the government.
(Score: 2) by Muad'Dave on Thursday April 16 2020, @11:36AM
I guess that could be interpreted that way. I read that to say:
The highlighted part to me means actions taken on by or on behalf of a nation; i.e. it would still be illegal for the president to contract with a private company to militarize the moon. That doesn't (IMHO) mean Musk couldn't mine the moon on his own.