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One of the principles of the Outer Space Treaty [1] is that "outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or oc

One of the principles of the Outer Space Treaty [1] is that "outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means." So that seems to prevent existing nations from claiming the rights of government in respect of Mars (in whole or in part) and the people on it. Whether it prevents new indigenous nations from forming there is (I assume) anyone's guess. And it may just be ignored anyway. I suspect that if and when people eventually get to Mars and get to stay there, the various stakeholders (earth governments, blocs, and corporations) will initially cook-up something similar to the Antarctic Treaty [2] that has regulated human conduct in Antarctica for the last sixty years. And that'll stay in-place until it hits it's scaling limits, whereupon it'll be replaced by something with more involvement from local people and institutions. What that would look like, I don't know. Geography is history and Mars isn't anything like Earth, so it'll have its own historical development. The people there will still be people, but they'll be changed by their experience. I'm not sure that templates from Earth (perhaps even including the concept of constitutions) will be useful beyond the short term. [1] https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/introouterspacetreaty.html https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/int... [2] https://www.ats.aq/index_e.html https://www.ats.aq/index_e.html

Turing_Machine 5y ago
By intent and design, the Outer Space Treaty was more or less obsoleted by 1979 "Moon Treaty" (so-called -- it actually applied to other celestial bodies, not just the Moon). However, given that no space-faring nation (U.S., Russia, China) has ever ratified the Moon Treaty, and, given that the U.N. normally can't even enforce its directives here on Earth (especially not if a Security Council member -- such as, again, U.S., Russia, China -- objects), it would appear to be rather toothless.

Turing_Machine 5y ago

By intent and design, the Outer Space Treaty was more or less obsoleted by 1979 "Moon Treaty" (so-called -- it actually applied to other celestial bodies, not just the Moon). However, given that no space-faring nation (U.S., Russia, China) has ever ratified the Moon Treaty, and, given that the U.N. normally can't even enforce its directives here on Earth (especially not if a Security Council member -- such as, again, U.S., Russia, China -- objects), it would appear to be rather toothless.