The Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act, sometimes referred to as the ''Spurring Private Aerospace Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship (SPACE) Act of 2015'', is an update of the

United States Government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

of its commercial

space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...

use, legislated in 2015. The update to US law explicitly allows US citizens and industries to "engage in the commercial exploration and exploitation of space resources" including water and minerals. The right does not extend to

extraterrestrial life Extraterrestrial life, colloquially referred to as alien life, is life that may occur outside Earth and which did not originate on Earth. No extraterrestrial life has yet been conclusively detected, although efforts are underway. Such life might ...

, so anything that is alive may not be exploited commercially.

Overview

The law was passed on May 21, 2015 to allow US industries to "engage in the commercial exploration and exploitation of space resources", but it asserts that "the United States does not y this Actassert

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

, or sovereign or

exclusive right In Anglo-Saxon law, an exclusive right, or exclusivity, is a de facto, non-tangible prerogative existing in law (that is, the power or, in a wider sense, right) to perform an action or acquire a benefit and to permit or deny others the right to p ...

s or jurisdiction over, or the ownership of, any

celestial body An astronomical object, celestial object, stellar object or heavenly body is a naturally occurring physical object, physical entity, association, or structure that exists in the observable universe. In astronomy, the terms ''object'' and ''bod ...

." Some scholars argue that the United States recognizing ownership of space resources is an act of sovereignty, and that the act violates the

Outer Space Treaty russian: link=yes, Договор о космосе es, link=yes, Tratado sobre el espacio ultraterrestre , long_name = Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moo ...

.Asteroid mining could be space's new frontier: the problem is doing it legally.
''The Guardian'' Rob Davies. 6 February 2016."Institutional Framework for the Province of all Mankind: Lessons from the International Seabed Authority for the Governance of Commercial Space Mining.] Jonathan Sydney Koch. "Institutional Framework for the Province of all Mankind: Lessons from the International Seabed Authority for the Governance of Commercial Space Mining." ''Astropolitics'', 16:1, 1-27, 2008. This has created a controversy on claims and on mining rights for profit. The SPACE Act includes the extension of

indemnification In contract law, an indemnity is a contractual obligation of one party (the ''indemnitor'') to compensate the loss incurred by another party (the ''indemnitee'') due to the relevant acts of the indemnitor or any other party. The duty to indemni ...

of US launch providers for extraordinary catastrophic third-party losses of a failed launch through 2025, while the previous indemnification law was scheduled to expire in 2016. The Act also extends, through 2023, the "learning period" restrictions which limit the ability of the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

(FAA) to enact regulations regarding the safety of spaceflight ''participants''. Indemnification for extraordinary third-party losses has, as of 2015, been a component of US space law for over 25 years, and during this time, "has never been invoked in any commercial launch mishap." '' Businessweek'' has summarized one effect of the legislation as "American citizens could keep anything they brought back from space."

Legislative history

Part of the origin of the law lies in the proposed ''Asteroids Act'' (H. R. 5063) introduced by Representatives

Bill Posey William Joseph Posey (born December 18, 1947) is an American businessman and politician serving as the U.S. representative for , in Congress since 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he formerly served in the Florida Senate and the Florida ...

(R-FL) and

Derek Kilmer Derek Christian Kilmer (born January 1, 1974) is an American politician who has been the U.S. representative for Washington's 6th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a member of the Washington House ...

(D-WA) in July 2014. That act was supported by lobbying efforts by

Planetary Resources Planetary Resources, Inc., formerly known as Arkyd Astronautics, was an American company that was formed on 1 January 2009,ARKYD Astronautics Founded http://www.planetaryresources.com/2009/01/draft-arkyd-astronautics-founded/ and reorganized an ...

, a Washington-based company that hopes to commercially mine asteroids. Additional lobbying by Deep Space Industries and Bigelow Resources, two other companies with commercial interests in space, helped the proposed Asteroids Act along, which was later rolled into the SPACE Act. The

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

passed the legislation in May 2015 and the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

subsequently passed similar legislation. The legislation was reconciled between the House of Representatives and the Senate, then moved to the executive branch for signing or vetoing before 20 November 2015.

President Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

signed the legislation into law on 25 November 2015.

References

{{Politics of outer space, state=collapsed Acts of the 114th United States Congress

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Private spaceflight Commercial spaceflight

Overview

Legislative history

See also

References