The Federal agency that regulate polite air in America is plan to use its framework for licensing outer space launching to license business on the Moon , agree toa scoop from Reuters this morning . Are we facing a lunar land snap ? Not exactly .
The report fill the form of a varsity letter from the Federal Aviation Agency toBigelow Aerospace — a private company that has develop expandable living modules for the ISS and hopes to put inflatable , modular living station on the Moon and even Mars . The varsity letter , go out from December , is all about whether Bigelow would be able to claim the right wing to develop a habitat on a particular part of the Moon — without any other mission or task intervene .
harmonise to Reuters , the FAA says that Bigelow ’s theoretical growth would be protected . In its varsity letter , the agency said it plan to leverage its “ exist launching licensing office to encourage private sphere investiture in space systems by ensuring that commercial activities can be bear on a non - interference basis , ” continuing , “ we realise the secret sphere ’s need to protect its asset and personnel on the moon or on other heavenly bodies . ”
A Bigelow lunar home ground mockup .
After all , the FAA does control how private companies launch craft into outer space . It would make sense that the office plans to serve as a regulative agency for exploration on celestial soundbox and planets , too . A Bigelow White House evidence Reuters that the FAA ’s missive “ does n’t mean that there ’s ownership of the moon , ” but that “ it just means that somebody else is n’t license to body politic on top of you or land on top of where geographic expedition and prospecting activeness are going on , which may be quite a distance from the lunar station . ”
The FAA already insure how American company launch goodness into space — in fact , we hear last year thatVirgin Galactic does n’t have an FAA licence to launch passengers yet . But does the office have the right to do the same for the Moon , found on external pact ? That remains ill-defined . As Reuters points out , a UN treaty from 1967 — the United Nations Outer Space treaty — is the main effectual theoretical account for “ distance law . ”The treaty statesthat neither distance nor celestial bodies are “ open to internal annexation by call of sovereignty , by means of use or occupation , or by any other means . ” Obviously , that include the Moon , which would mean that other countries with space programs would probably object to US companies staking claims .
We ’ll have to await a few more yr before we see this issue play out on the international degree — but it ’s break down to total up more and more often as private companies take to outer space . In fact , last year , io9 described one way in which our progressive tense and incomplete “ space legal philosophy ” is already falling short : asteroid mining by secret American company . [ Reuters ]
look-alike : solarseven / Shutterstock
Spacethe Sun Myung Moon
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