Who Owns the Moon?
Some businesses are now thinking of mining on the moon in search of rare minerals, but the question arises as to who has the right to these natural resources of the moon and how? OR Simply WHO OWN,S THE MOON.
Nearly
50 years after the first human
step on the moon, Neil Armstrong's "first-small-step"
he called "a huge-leap-for-humanity."
Shortly after this historic step, Neil Armstrong's companion Buzz Adrian also
stepped into this calm sea. As the moon car descended the eagle's stairs, Buzz
Adrian described the moon's distant surface as a "spectacular-wilderness."
Since the Apollo 11
mission in July 1969, the moon has remained largely out of human hands, and no
humans have landed there since 1972.
But things could change
now that a number of companies are showing interest not only in further
exploration of the moon's surface, but also in excavating it to extract gold,
platinum and other minerals used in electronics.
Just a few months earlier, Chinese experts landed their space mission on the part of the moon that is invisible to us from Earth, and succeeded in growing cotton seeds there. It seems that China will now set up a research center there as well.
In addition, a Japanese company, iSpace, is planning to build a platform for movement between the earth and the moon, as well as to start searching for water on the moon.
Are there any rules or regulations that can be applied to ensure that:
The United Nations signed an agreement with the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union in 1967 when the US space agency NASA was preparing to send a manned mission to the moon. The agreement reached at the United Nations is known as the 'Outer- Space-Treaty'.
The agreement made it clear that no country could claim ownership and sovereignty on the basis of its presence on the moon or other space objects.
John-Wheeler, director of the space company Alden Advisors, says the Outer space Treaty could be considered a space Magna carta, Resting a banner on moons, as Astronaut Neil-Armstrong and his replacements did, is inconsequential in light of the fact that doing so doesn't give any individual, organization or nation responsibility for space body," says John Wheeler.
In practice, it did not matter who owned the land on the moon or who had the right to mine it. However, as technology advances, the potential for profit from the moon's potential resources has increased. It is still a distant future, but the possibilities are growing.
In view of this idea, the United Nations had issued an agreement called the 'Covenant-of-the-Moon', which aims to legalize the activities of various countries on the moon and other celestial bodies. According to the agreement, space resources must be used for peaceful purposes, and each country must tell the United Nations where it wants to build a station in space and why.
Who Own,s the Moon? Its Natural Resources? |
The agreement also states that , moon natural resources are for all humankind living on earth, and that there should be an international treaty to be applied when , it is possible to take benefit of such assets."
But the problem with the Moon Pact is that so far only 11 countries have signed it. France and India have also signed, but the big players in the space arena, such as China, the United States and Russia, have not signed it, nor has Britain.
Regardless,
Miss Wheeler says the principles set out in the agreement are not easy to
implement because different countries keep incorporating such different
documents into law and it is their job to ensure that their citizens and their
Companies must adhere to these principles. Professor John Irene, former
editor-in-chief of Space Law Magazine, agrees that the implementation of global
agreements on space cannot be guaranteed.
These agreements on non-recognition of ownership and sovereignty of any individual or country in space bodies have faced many challenges in recent years.
The United States passed the Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act in 2015, recognizing citizens' right to the resources they have acquired through mining on a small planet.
Eric Anderson, founder of Planetary Resources, a space exploration company, called the law "the most important law in the history of the recognition of all rights."
Similarly, Luxembourg passed a law in 2017 recognizing a similar right to space's natural resources.
There is no doubt that many businesses want to take advantage of these resources and it seems that many countries want to help such companies.
However, Helen Tabini, a lawyer with Nellie Space Law, a space law firm, said the United States and Luxembourg had pulled out of the deal through "bullying". It will take care that all countries have equal rights in space exploration and this work should be done by all together.
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