Luxembourg: Plan for International Treaty Laws Pertaining to Mining in Space

It may seem the stuff of science fiction, but mining asteroids, other planets, and even our own moon is just around the corner. Unfortunately, privatization of these efforts has been largely impeded thanks to antiquated international laws created by the United Nations (UN) governing the exploitation of extra-planetary resources.

It may seem the stuff of science fiction, but mining asteroids, other planets, and even our own moon is just around the corner. Unfortunately, privatization of these efforts has been largely impeded thanks to antiquated international laws created by the United Nations (UN) governing the exploitation of extra-planetary resources.

Luxembourg, not usually a country one thinks of when discussing ground breaking social and technological advances, is well ahead of the rest of the world on addressing this problem, and has announced its plans to create a legal framework for space mining. Luxembourg made an announcement on Wednesday, noting that it will draw up the legal framework that will define how space mining can be effectively, efficiently, and economically achieved.

This is necessary because existing international treaty laws created by the UN outlaw such endeavors. More specifically, the existing UN laws require that any collection of resources from outside of Earth must be collected in a manner that benefits all of mankind (read: for scientific purposes and not economic gain). Moreover, no individual, company, or nation can make ownership claims to any mines or minerals outside of Earth’s atmosphere.

Unfortunately, these treaty laws and this interpretation of space mining as a purely profit-driven endeavor is rather short sighted, given the abundance of resources outside of Earth’s atmosphere. Many of these resources are relatively scarce here at home, and tapping these resources could lead to vast wealth and improvement of the human condition well beyond mere pecuniary gain.

As noted in a recent opinion piece by Forbes, filled with resources that are relatively scarce here on Earth fill the universe. These resources could do everything from powering new technologies to helping to build better structures to advancing the interests of science and human development. However, none of them can be exploited in an effective and economical manner without the proper legal framework.

Laws and treaties can either, make it impossible to explore these possibilities, as under the current regulatory scheme, or they can encourage private enterprise to innovate and, quite literally, reach for the stars. After all, what private interest would undertake the research and development necessary to create the technology required to reach distant bodies and bring back valuable resources if they have no ownership interest in either the mine or the minerals?

The Luxembourg Ministry of the Economy announced its plan to create the first government initiative in Europe to develop the requisite legal and regulatory framework needed to encourage future private mining in space. It also announced plans to invest in related research and development and possibly in the actual companies that will execute on Luxembourg’s vision.

However, it is not entirely clear how Luxembourg intends to circumvent The Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which states: “the exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries and shall be the province of all mankind.” It is likely that Luxembourg will simply have to move the global community to revoke the prior treaty and enter into a new agreement.

The United States recently signaled its intention to move in a similar direction when President Obama signed the US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of 2015. Under that law, American companies obtain the rights to any asteroid resources they can extract. Since this appears to fly in the face of The Outer Space Treaty of 1967, it is inevitable that a legal battle will ensue, either in the courts or politically on the floor of the UN.