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Trump Signs an Executive Order Allowing Mining the Moon and Asteroids

posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday April 14 2020, @08:52AM   
from the that's-just-loony dept.

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:

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."

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Original Submission

• Re:Outer Space Treaty signed in 1967 Re:Outer Space Treaty signed in 1967 (Score: 2) by Immerman on Wednesday April 15 2020, @02:17PM (1 child)

  by Immerman (3985) on Wednesday April 15 2020, @02:17PM (#983059)

  >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]

  States Parties to the Treaty shall bear international responsibility for national activities in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, whether such activities are carried on by governmental agencies or by non-governmental entities,

  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.

  Parent

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• Re:Outer Space Treaty signed in 1967 (Score: 2) by Muad'Dave on Thursday April 16 2020, @11:36AM

  by Muad'Dave (1413) on Thursday April 16 2020, @11:36AM (#983526)

  I guess that could be interpreted that way. I read that to say:

  States Parties to the Treaty shall bear international responsibility for national activities in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, whether such activities are carried on by governmental agencies or by non-governmental entities

  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.

  Parent