Not that any private space outfit will face much oversight if and when the President signs the bill into law, since the core of the Act shields commercial space companies from regulation for the next 8 years. This theoretically gives fledgling businesses like Blue Origin and SpaceX both more room to grow and more opportunities to attract those investors who'd be put off by red tape.

The soon-to-be-law might will be encouraging to businesses worried that they'll be crushed by government restrictions, but it also raises questions. How does the US reconcile its space mining policies with those of other countries, especially those who've already called dibs on a space object? Are we looking at a rehash of the colonial days, when nations were in a mad rush to grab whatever they could? And is the anti-regulation approach wise given both the rash of recent accidents and the impending wave of manned private space capsules? While the Act will definitely pay off if it helps the US advance past the days of NASA-only space travel, it carries the real risk of creating political or technical chaos.

[Image credit: NASA]