Richard Yonck reports that the recent passage of the Space Act of 2015 in the U.S. House and Senate marks a milestone for the commercial space industry. Ever since the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, nations have been banned from claiming or appropriating any celestial resource such as the Moon or another planet. Formally titled the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, the nearly 50 year old agreement has formed the basis of international space law ever since.
Now that is about to change. The 1967 treaty was signed at the height of the Cold War, during a time when the space race was in full swing and many people were rightly concerned about the militarization of space. Thoughts of a future era of commercial space mining were the farthest thing from most people thoughts.
50 years later, however, technology has advanced considerably, creating many new opportunities including the commercial exploration and use of space. While claiming entire worlds is still off limits, as it probably should remain for a long time, the ability to mine and make use of materials from asteroids and other off, planet sources is finally being opened up. The legislation, called the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act, calls for facilitating commercial exploration for and commercial recovery of space resources by U.S. citizens. If the President signs the Act into law, it means commercial ventures will finally be able to try and profit from space exploration, which will stimulate further development, innovation and exploration. In light of this policy shift it seems likely that other nations will quickly follow suit.
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