Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
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By Morten
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1520459
Here is a decent summary of the state of play regarding one of the major hurdles of space 'exploitation' - namely the legal difficulty to 'exploit' space or rather to exploit those assets which exist in space.
Striking Gold in Space (I couldn't find a way to it link directly - but clicking on the centre of the front page should open up the article)

As described there, there is a balance to be struck between allowing private capitalist ventures to innovate w.r.t. the use of outer space and the generally expressed desire for space to be free for all and to the benefit of mankind.
Technically, there is no absolute inhibitive factor which (on paper...) would make e.g. the mining of asteroids impossible and the potential financial benefits are significant. But legally, the ownership of said assets is a thorny case - on the Moon as on asteroids.
The existing acts in many ways suffer from a certain lack of expectation - when they were written / ratified, they did not adequately foresee a role for private enterprise in space.

Tempting to say that the lawyers made a mess of it, but in fairness, they did as well as they could have done - in the middle of the old war. Still, some legal cajones are required, together with some commercial/financial ones to give this the impetus it deserves.

Morten