Space Commercialization Act Passed by US Congress and Signed by President Obama
One of the big challenged confronting the exploitation of space resources such as asteroids is a legal one. The international treaty that space faring powers are operating under prohibits countries, businesses and/or individuals from staking a claim of ownership over a celestial body. As a private space industry is being born and our technology approaches the point where we could actually consider mining an asteroid or mining on the moon, the treaty terms are an impediment. There has been intense work going on in the past few years to remedy this. The U.S. government has just taken steps to allow private ownership of space resources.
President Obama has just signed into law a bill passed by Congress called the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitive Act (H.R. 2262). This law "recognizes the right of U.S. citizens to own asteroid resources they obtain and encourages the commercial exploration and utilization of resources from asteroids." This bill was a bipartisan effort which included the support of Marco Rubio (R-FL), Lamar Smith (R-TX), Patty Murray (D-WA), Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Bill Posey (R-FL) and Derek Kilmer (D-WA). The supporting Congressmen all come from states that are leading the development of private space exploration and exploitation.
Planetary Resources, an asteroid mining company in Seattle, WA. issued a press release on the occasion of the signing. "This is the single greatest recognition of property rights in history. This legislation establishes the same supportive framework that created the great economies of history, and will encourage the sustained development of space,” said the Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of PR. The Vice President of Global Engagement of PR said, "Our nation’s continued leadership and prosperity in space is enabled by this new law." The President and Chief Engineer of PR said, "This off-planet economy will forever change our lives for the better here on Earth. We celebrate this law as it creates a pro-growth environment for our emerging industry by encouraging private sector investment and ensuring an increasingly stable and predictable regulatory environment."
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) said, "I am glad that we’ve taken this important step forward to update our federal policies to make sure they work for innovative businesses creating jobs in Washington state. Washington state leads in so many ways, and I’m proud that local businesses are once again at the forefront of new industries that will help our economy continue to grow."
Representative Derek Kilmer (D-WA) said "“The commercial space industry in Washington state is leading the way in developing the cutting edge technology necessary to support human space exploration. The U. S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act will give these ventures the framework they need to continue to innovate, and to keep the United States at the head of this growing, global industry.”
Up to this point, the exploration of space has been the province of national governments. The enormous investment required could only be supplied by nations. Now that technology has improved and costs have dropped, private companies have entered the field. In order for a real space industrial sector to emerge and evolve, it is necessary for profitable ventures to be developed. This new law will definitely pave the way for the commercialization of space.
