I think the title of the essay makes perfect sense to me! Some world-wide body needs to have control over something so HUGE as asteroid mining, because, let’s face it, letting space develop along the line of the free-wheeling Lawless West would have SERIOUS world-destroying consequences.
Certainly SOME people have considered this possibility because there ARE documents in place, signed by space-faring nations. On October 13, 202o, the nations who signed the ARTEMIS ACCORDS have their flags illustrated on the last page of the document. Notable signatures missing: Russia, China, North Korea…I hate to say it, but “naturally”. A few other of note who are included: Nigeria, Rwanda, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, and several others I didn’t even know had space programs!
This is obviously good. Of interest to me: “The ability to extract and utilize resources on the Moon, Mars, and asteroids will be critical to support safe and sustainable space exploration and development. The Artemis Accords reinforce that space resource extraction and utilization can and will be conducted under the auspices of the Outer Space Treaty, with specific emphasis on Articles II, VI, and XI.”
Those articles as expanded in the original Outer Space Treaty Entered into force October 10, 1967 are as follows (Note that THIS document was signed by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (aka USSR), The Peoples Republic of China (signed December 1983), The Holy See, Cuba (in June of 1977), Iran, Iraq, Pakistan…It seems more countries were interested in peaceful coexistence in space than there are today interested in peaceful coexistence on the ground…
The following are the three Articles mentioned above:
Article II “Outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.”
Article VI “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, and for assuring that national activities are carried out in conformity with the provisions set forth in the present Treaty. The activities of non-governmental entities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall require authorization and continuing supervision by the appropriate State Party to the Treaty. When activities are carried on in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, by an international organization, responsibility for compliance with this Treaty shall be borne both by the international organization and by the States Parties to the Treaty participating in such organization.”
Article XI “In order to promote international co-operation in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space, States Parties to the Treaty conducting activities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, agree to inform the Secretary-General of the United Nations as well as the public and the international scientific community, to the greatest extent feasible and practicable, of the nature, conduct, locations and results of such activities. On receiving the said information, the Secretary-General of the United Nations should be prepared to disseminate it immediately and effectively.”
There’s FAR too much here to explore in a single post. Consider this a “shot across the bow” of the rapidly steaming nation-states plans for the Moon, asteroids, and anything else that will feed a rapidly weakening Earth: “…it remains uncertain whether China or Russia will comply, given the current geopolitical circumstances and the fact that Beijing has submitted its own proposal to the U.N. Moreover, considering the existing lack of a clear global regulatory framework for space property, exploitation and ownership rights, individual nations like the U.S., Japan, Luxembourg and the United Arab Emirates have established their own unique space legislation and policies, which increases the risk of inconsistent and conflicting regulations.”
Ah yes, it appears that Humanity is on the cusp of exporting national and racial tensions to the innocent space bodies of the Solar System. We shall see...
Today’s Sources: https://spacenews.com/the-un-needs-form-parliament-regulate-space-mining/, https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Artemis-Accords-signed-13Oct2020.pdf?emrc=653a00; Original Space Treaty @1967) https://2009-2017.state.gov/t/isn/5181.htm#treaty
Foundational Resource: (A general Wikipedia post detailing what the authors currently know about asteroid mining: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_mining)
Noted Resources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_asteroid_close_approaches_to_Earth, https://www.pharostribune.com/news/local_news/article_7fcd3ea5-3c14-533f-a8d5-9bf629922f34.html, https://www.fool.com/investing/2022/04/29/like-asteroid-mining-be-careful-what-you-wish-for/, https://www.nps.gov/wrbr/learn/historyculture/theroadtothefirstflight.htm, https://hackaday.com/2019/03/27/extraterrestrial-excavation-digging-holes-on-other-worlds/, https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/every-small-worlds-mission
Image: https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/iss037e028227-orig-sq.jpg?resize=2000,2000
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