The Battle for Interstellar Frontiers, and Why it May Not Matter

Close up of an astronaut footprint on the surface of the moon.
Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin’s footprint on the moon (one of the first)

If you have a debit card and around $35 you can purchase an extraterrestrial acre of land. Online. Deeds are available for plots on Mercury, Venus, Mars, Lo, and Titan. If you want something a little closer, lunar plots are also available.

While this may seem unfathomable, it’s true. Sort of.

There are many layers to this story. Let’s begin with the government perspective on who owns the rights to outer space.

Outer Space Treaty

Large room with a semi-circle of tables/seats where many people, mostly men in suits, are seated for discussion, looking at a board of unidentifiable information on the wall.
First session of the Legal Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, United Nations HQ, May 26th, 1959

The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 establishes a framework for international space law (according to the UN). It outlines the following principles:

So there it is. Through collaboration and a mutual interest in the preservation of humankind, we can breach the confines of our diplomatic segregation as we work towards galactic settlements.

Maybe.

Assumptions of Government Regulation

An astronaut working on a small machine in front of a series of metal cylindrical structures where another astronaut is climbing a small set of steps to enter one of them.
NASA concept illustration of a Mars outpost

While the Outer Space Treaty seems legitimate, it assumes that the governments of the world (most specifically those who have signed it) have jurisdiction over extraterrestrial bodies. That we, as a human race, have extended our international boundaries—along with their governments and laws—to the entire universe.

So how does that work, exactly?

Consider the scenario that a group of people from a handful of countries leaves Earth and settles on Mars. Not people working on government-funded projects, mind you, but a privately-funded venture (and they’re not being scammed out of tens of millions of dollars by a fake company called Mars One). Let’s say their settlement is thriving, so others join them. And others. And so forth.

Now we have a nice little satellite society of extraterrestrial human beings. Who says they’re bound to the laws of Earthly governments? How might this be enforced? And if it could be enforced, which countries take precedence when the settlement comprises “citizens” from more than one country?

When do Earthly opinions simply become irrelevant in the conversation?

As of this writing, Earth houses 195 UN-recognized countries (if you include Taiwan and Palestine). 137 of those have signed the Outer Space Treaty. That means 58 countries don’t give a shit or don’t have enough money/power to sit at the table. Either way, there are 58 countries who could at some point set up shop on another planet, consequently nullifying the treaty altogether.

The Model of Earthly Statehood

History tells a bloody story of conquest and statehood. We can boil it down into a few buckets:

  1. I got here first, so this is mine.
  2. You got here first, but I want it. I am bigger and stronger so it is mine.
  3. No one is here because it’s inhabitable or scary, so by terra nullius I am going to claim it as mine.

The Outer Space Treaty states that if humans are able to occupy an extraterrestrial body, it belongs to the entire human race. Unless I am one of the 58 other countries. Then it’s mine. Until one of the 137 treaty signers shows up, then it’s likely theirs. Unless it’s a plot of land on Mercy, where daytime temperatures are 800°F and nighttime temperatures are -280°F. Then it’s still mine because no one wants it.

You see where I’m going here? Extraterrestrial kingdoms look a lot like terrestrial kingdoms.

But what if you don’t want to claim rights to land, and only want to…oh…mine an astroid for precious minerals? Well, the United States government has you covered.

Maybe.

SPACE Act of 2015

Astronaut on the surface of the moon, placing an American flag into the ground.
Apollo 12 member Charles Conrad Jr. at the Ocean of Storms site of our Moon

On November 25th, 2015, President Obama signed into legislation the SPACE Act of 2015. This affords U.S. companies the right to hunt for extraterrestrial materials on asteroids and bring them back to Earth, free from sovereign regulation. Basically, space mining. The bill notes:

A United States citizen engaged in commercial recovery of an asteroid resource or a space resource under this chapter shall be entitled to any asteroid resource or space resource obtained, including to possess, own, transport, use, and sell the asteroid resource or space resource obtained in accordance with applicable law, including the international obligations of the United States.

It’s important to note that the Senate noticed a gap in the version the House passed, whereby the term “space resource” wasn’t clearly defined. The early version would have afforded people the right of conquest of alien life. Whoops! Fortunately, the final bill defines the resources as an “abiotic resource in situ in outer space” (or “not alive”). Phew.

But what happens when another country targets an astroid where a United States company arrives first? Are they going to lay claim to a portion of the bounty, pointing to the Outer Space Treaty that noting that the exploration of space is “…for the benefit and in the interests of all countries…”? Is space mining an act of exploration or is it a smash-and-grab?

In Conclusion

So what does all of this mean—if anything at all? Well:

  1. You can get there first, and claim it is yours.
  2. You can get there second, and still claim it is yours because you are bigger and stronger.
  3. You can get there in any order, and claim it is yours because no one else is as ridiculous as you and your desire to own one of the many uninhabitable plots of land in outer space.

Or…we can rethink how we function as a race of beings, learn from history, and begin to live as a species rather than citizens. Outer space gives us an opportunity to move beyond diplomatic segregation and privileged dominance, into a new era of being human. I am quite eager to watch the process unfold. That is, if we even survive as a terrestrial species.

#Space #Astronomy #Interstellar #Extraterrestrial #Humanity #Frontier #Conquest #OuterSpaceTreaty #Earth #Moon #Mars

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Illustration of me with a content facial expression. I am wearing a wine colored beanie, teal glasses, and my long full beard is brown with gray edges. There is a dreary forest in the background.
I’m Mark Wyner, an activist, dad, husband, Designer, writer, public speaker, and Mastodon moderator. If you want me to write for you or speak at your event please say hello.