In 2015 Congress passed a law to legalise mining in outer space—the first of its kind in the world.
Firms that some day manage to mine asteroids for resources like water or precious metals would henceforth be allowed to own, process, and sell anything harvested. The nascent space-mining industry was thrilled. The boss of a firm called Planetary Resources compared it to the Homestead Act of 1862—a law that gave up to 160 acres in the American West to any plucky settler willing to venture forth.
More recently Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary, has talked about creating a more “permissive” regulatory environment in space and turning the moon into a “gas station” for further exploration. Other countries are following suit: Luxembourg passed a similar measure last year and earmarked €200m to invest in space-mining companies.
But not everyone is pleased. At the UN committee dealing with outer space, Russia condemned the American move, citing America’s “total disrespect” for international law. Critics say America is conferring rights that it has no authority to confer. There are indeed legal grey areas.
Who owns what in outer space?
Image Credit: © SPL
News This Week
Next Covid-19 Strain May be More Dangerous, Lab Study Shows
A South African laboratory study using Covid-19 samples from an immunosupressed individual over six months showed that the virus evolved to become more pathogenic, indicating that a new variant could cause worse illness than [...]
The Fast-Spreading New COVID-19 Subvariant XBB Is Part of a ‘New Class’ of Omicron
For the past several months, Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 have dominated COVID-19 cases in the U.S. But now, there’s a class of new COVID subvariants on the rise and one in particular is getting plenty of [...]
Overcoming challenges in the delivery of nucleic acid therapeutics
Nucleic acid therapies involving DNA or RNA have significant potential to treat genetic disorders, infectious diseases, and cancer; however, research suggests that less than 1% of injected nucleic acid doses reach target cells in [...]
FDA approves $3.5 million treatment for hemophilia, now the most expensive drug in the world
The US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved Hemgenix, a new drug to treat hemophilia. Manufacturer CSL Behring set the price at $3.5 million per treatment, making it the most expensive drug [...]
Wireless smart bandage promotes faster closure of wounds, enhances skin recovery
Some wounds just won’t heal. Infections, diseases like diabetes, and suppressed immune systems often stack up to slow healing. Chronic wounds can last months and lead to anxiety and depression. In the worst cases, [...]
Using Nanofibers to Guide the Development of Novel Biomaterials
Over the years, researchers have tried hard to comprehend topographic signals that promote cell mechanical sensitive responses. The extracellular matrix (ECM) provides a complex cellular microenvironment that controls cellular behavior. Nevertheless, only a few [...]
Measles now an imminent global threat due to pandemic, say WHO and CDC
There is now an imminent threat of measles spreading in various regions globally, as COVID-19 led to a steady decline in vaccination coverage and weakened surveillance of the disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) [...]
Covid-19: Brain scans show new evidence of what could be causing long Covid
In a recent study, it was shown that people with long Covid have had physical changes to their brains several months after experiencing the initial infection. The study included MRIs of patients who continued [...]
Leave A Comment