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??? "(Sec. 403) It is the sense of Congress that the United States does not, by enactment of this Act, assert sovereignty or sovereign or exclusive rights or ju

• the_duke 10y ago
  > facilitate the commercial exploration for and commercial recovery of space resources by U.S. citizens; > promote the right of U.S. citizens to engage in commercial exploration for and commercial recovery of space resources free from harmful interference, in accordance with such obligations and subject to authorization and continuing supervision by the federal government. > A U.S. citizen engaged in commercial recovery of an asteroid resource or a space resource shall be entitled to any asteroid resource or space resource obtained, including to possess, own, transport, use, and sell it according to applicable law, including U.S. international obligations. As always, with government documents, you have to read carefully. Mind you, I'm neither a lawyer nor a policy experts, but: This certainly establishes the right to harvest and own space resources. The killer phrase is "free from harmful interference", basically meaning, the US shall protect US entities from adversaries in space. While not mandating the need for military presence, it definitely hints at it. You quoted the section about the US itself not establishing any ownership, but quite the contrary for private enterprises.