Wish to own one of those extraterrestrial items mined from celestial bodies? The bill on ‘Space Mining’ ensures you just that!

Friday saw the US House of Representatives, pass the impending bill on space mining. This bill is an attempt by the US to lay claim on the resources mined from the outer space. It guarantees businesses that engage in asteroid mining to keep whatever they dig up, thus, ensuring them property rights of their celestial goodies.

This, sure, is a welcome legislation after the stingy 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty, which maintained that celestial bodies could not be claimed by any particular country. However, the Space Resource Exploration and Utilization Act, as is evident from the name itself, clarifies who, other than a base-owner can land in the outer space and own resources there. This US legislation is not restricted only to the private sector. It also allows the public sector to step in and leverage the benefits of commercial explorations and utilization of space resources to meet the economy’s needs.

The extraterrestrial bodies house minerals valued in trillions of dollars, according to geologists. Asteroids are believed to be packed with iron ore, nickel and precious metals at much higher concentrations than those found on Earth. Therefore, owing such resources can boost the nation’s progress. However, businesses will make investments for deploying required technology in space, only if, they are given the free will to operate and ensured some tangible benefits out of the bargain.

The space mining bill grants them that. It reads, “Any asteroid resources obtained in outer space are the property of the entity that obtained such resources, which shall be entitled to all property rights thereto, consistent with applicable provisions of Federal law”.

The present legislation would fall under the regulations of the Federal Aviation Administration, which already regulates space launches, as they travel through airspace on their journey to outer space.