3 ms·

Whomever can occupy it. Outer Space Treaty prohibits national claims but not use for peaceful purposes. So if you sit on it, you own it.

r00fus 9y ago
According to link above the treaty prohibits all sovereign claims. However, getting there can be made into a reasonable barrier to competition. Sure you can also exploit the moon, but how are you going to get there?
- wongarsu 9y ago
  Given enough potential profit, getting there shouldn't be a big problem. You already have a bunch of nations currently selling orbital launches, and various private companies didn't seem to have big problems designing their own engines and rockets.
- kobeya 9y ago
  If you think getting to the Moon is hard, where many resources are surface extractable, look into what it takes to mine certain ores on Earth kilometers below ground in remote regions.
  - jawbone3 9y ago
    One of the things it takes is piracy being severely restricted, but by the usual interpretations of the space traty, thatsfine in space.
    - r00fus 9y ago
      Are you saying piracy is fine in space? It's not the way I read the treaty - sounds like it'd be not ok - therefore potentially opening up options for "defense" based armament.
      - kobeya 9y ago
        The treaty explicitly says that piracy is not okay. In fact, because of the way outer space is in many cases treated as international waters, the same laws governing piracy on the seas govern space activities as well, just with some differences regarding how ships are assigned to nations ("what flag they fly"). However the real outstanding issue with the OST is how to handle mining claims. Claim jumping is a real issue, since you could spend a ton of money prospecting a resource, only to have your competition to rush over and build a hut on top of it and legally claim it as their own. There needs to be some sort of mechanism, perhaps even not governmental if renegotiating the OST is too dangerous or unlikely to happen soon, by which a company can claim a mining claim over a resource they have prospected and have that claim be legally protected from claim jumpers for a period of time.
galaxyLogic 9y ago
If you break it, you own it

r00fus 9y ago

According to link above the treaty prohibits all sovereign claims. However, getting there can be made into a reasonable barrier to competition. Sure you can also exploit the moon, but how are you going to get there?

wongarsu 9y ago
Given enough potential profit, getting there shouldn't be a big problem. You already have a bunch of nations currently selling orbital launches, and various private companies didn't seem to have big problems designing their own engines and rockets.
kobeya 9y ago
If you think getting to the Moon is hard, where many resources are surface extractable, look into what it takes to mine certain ores on Earth kilometers below ground in remote regions.
- jawbone3 9y ago
  One of the things it takes is piracy being severely restricted, but by the usual interpretations of the space traty, thatsfine in space.
  - r00fus 9y ago
    Are you saying piracy is fine in space? It's not the way I read the treaty - sounds like it'd be not ok - therefore potentially opening up options for "defense" based armament.
    - kobeya 9y ago
      The treaty explicitly says that piracy is not okay. In fact, because of the way outer space is in many cases treated as international waters, the same laws governing piracy on the seas govern space activities as well, just with some differences regarding how ships are assigned to nations ("what flag they fly"). However the real outstanding issue with the OST is how to handle mining claims. Claim jumping is a real issue, since you could spend a ton of money prospecting a resource, only to have your competition to rush over and build a hut on top of it and legally claim it as their own. There needs to be some sort of mechanism, perhaps even not governmental if renegotiating the OST is too dangerous or unlikely to happen soon, by which a company can claim a mining claim over a resource they have prospected and have that claim be legally protected from claim jumpers for a period of time.

galaxyLogic 9y ago

If you break it, you own it