Buzz
For many years, science fiction writers have envisioned the Moon as a prime conquest for humanity—an arena for space colonies, prisons, labs, and residential complexes. Jules Verne famously suggested we could reach the Moon by launching astronauts from a cannon, while Robert Heinlein dreamed up a moon base that would defy Earth’s governance and revolt.
With countries such as Japan, India, and China preparing their first crewed Moon missions since the United States' last landing in 1972, the question of who holds claim to the Moon and its resources has moved from the world of fiction into the hands of space lawyers.
Frans von der Dunk, an attorney and professor of space law at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, addressed the issue of Moon ownership in a post for Real Clear Science. In 1967, two years before the U.S. first landed on the Moon, the U.S., the Soviet Union, and other nations signed the Outer Space Treaty, which established the Moon as a 'global commons.' No single nation could own it, and its resources, discoveries, and untapped potential were meant to benefit all of humanity. As a sign of goodwill, the U.S. even shared lunar soil and rock samples with Russia, despite the Cold War tensions.
While no country can lay claim to land on the Moon, the issue of who owns resources extracted from both the Moon and asteroids—which are also covered by the treaty—is still unclear. If a nation is able to mine minerals and other space resources, can they claim ownership, or must these resources be shared globally?
Von der Dunk isn’t entirely certain, which is why the terms 'space law' and 'space lawyer,' despite sounding humorous, are likely to become both very real and crucial in the near future. It may turn out that mining asteroids or the Moon becomes similar to commercial fishing: If you're licensed, you can keep what you collect. However, some countries, like Russia, argue that anything taken from space should have communal benefits for all of humanity.
One thing is clear: While Neil Armstrong's planting of the U.S. flag on the Moon was symbolic, it likely won’t carry much weight in the legal discussions of space law.
