Glenn Harlan Reynolds

Every now and then, I see items in the news that remind me this is the 21st century. Last week, it was Congress holding hearings on asteroid mining and a new bill — the American Space Technology for Exploring Resource Opportunities In Deep Space Act, or Asteroids Act — that, in effect, ensures U.S. companies if they mine it, they own it.

This wasn't a complete surprise to me: I've written a book on space law, and was reporting on the growth of commercial space industry years ago. Nonetheless, it's interesting to see things take another step forward.

The Asteroids Act is short and simple. After instructing the president and all agencies of the U.S. government to use their powers to facilitate space exploration and exploitation, it provides that "Any resources obtained in outer space from an asteroid 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." In other words, if you mine it, you own it.

That's important, because although there's a lot of potential wealth out there, no one will mine it if they can't keep it. Asteroid 3554 Amun is estimated to contain $20 trillion worth of valuable metals. Enough to pay off the United States' burgeoning national debt in its entirety, with a little spare change. And there are many other asteroids containing similar wealth.

What's more, people are working toward recovering it. Planetary Resources, a company with support from such big names as Eric Schmidt, Larry Page, and Richard Branson, is actively working toward an asteroid mining future. Nor are they the only ones. Deep Space Industries will be launching a fleet of laptop-sized prospecting satellites to identify rich and easy-to-mine deposits in space. But despite all the wealth out there, nothing is likely to be developed unless investors can expect to own what they mine. Just as the miners of the 19th century gold rushes in the American West would have stayed home if they'd expected to have their nuggets seized by authorities, people investing in space mining operations need similar stable property rights.

The 1967 Outer Space Treaty forbids "national appropriation" of "the moon and other celestial bodies," but although the term "celestial body" isn't defined, it's generally understood to apply to large objects, like planets, not small ones like asteroids, which, as attorney Andrew Tingkang argued in a recent Seattle University Law Reviewarticle, are more like "chattels" than like realty. (Asteroids can be moved; planets can't). And, at any rate, the Outer Space Treaty permits the use of space resources, and does nothing to prohibit private property in space.

But the real value of material from asteroids isn't in what it can be sold for on Earth, but what it can be used for in space. Building things in space right now is brutally expensive, since it costs thousands of dollars per pound to launch things into orbit. Materials produced in outer space — not just metals, but also gases and water from comets and asteroids — don't have to be launched from Earth, and thus can be had much more cheaply, and in much greater quantity, supporting everything from orbital solar plants (no clouds) that could beam electricity to Earth without pollution, to Mars missions, to space colonies. Scientists and space planners have known this for years. Now, however, it's on the verge of happening.

Things here on Earth aren't going so well at the moment, but we're actually in the midst of tremendous progress — most of it by private companies — with regard to human activity in outer space. The Asteroids Act is a significant step in taking things to the next level. I hope that Congress passes it.

Glenn Harlan Reynolds, a University of Tennessee law professor, is the author ofThe New School: How the Information Age Will Save American Education from Itself.

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