WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump today signed a new executive order aimed at building a coalition of like-minded countries to support its policy allowing private industry to extract resources from the Moon, asteroids and other celestial bodies.

“As America prepares to return humans to the Moon and journey on to Mars, this Executive Order establishes U.S. policy toward the recovery and use of space resources, such as water and certain minerals, in order to encourage the commercial development of space,” said Scott Pace, deputy assistant to the president and executive secretary of the National Space Council, in a press statement this afternoon.

At the same time, the “Executive Order on Encouraging International Support for the Recovery and Use of Space Resources” rejects any treaty to codify resource extraction rules along the lines of the 1979 Moon Treaty, which characterizes space as a global commons where resources must be equitably shared. This is consistent with the administration’s long-standing reluctance to empower multinational bodies — such as the UN’s Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) in Vienna — to set legally binding rules for space.

“From a legal standpoint, it seems like the US is just adamant and focused about it being the State which establishes precedence on the use of space resources, rather than have a long and uncertain process within COPUOS, now with 93 Member States, attempting to develop rules,” Chris Johnson, space law adviser at the Secure World Foundation.

Further, the vision of US companies setting up mining facilities in space begs long-term questions about the future role of the Space Force in protecting them from ‘claim jumping,’ potential attacks, and piracy.

“This is one of the things that has been discussed,” said one insider. The potential for in-space commerce, the source explained, is one of the drivers behind the push by some in the military space community for an expansive view of the Space Force’s mission, to include a Navy-like mission to protect and defend commerce — a viewpoint of the military’s role that Aerospace Corporation called “the Galactic Battle Fleet” school of thought.

Indeed, as I’ve reported, senior US military space officials over the past couple of years have stressed the need for the US to begin operations in ‘cislunar space’ –– usually defined as the area between Geosynchronous Orbit (36,000 kilometers in altitude) and the Moon.

At the same time, the Trump Administration’s new order once again states that the US intends to uphold the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. It prohibits claims of sovereignty over outer space and celestial bodies by any nation.

“Military bases and maneuvers are not allowed on the Moon or other celestial bodies, so the ability of the Space Force to defend US commercial activities on the Moon or asteroids is also questionable,” said Brian Weeden, director of program planning at Secure World Foundation.

Somewhat surprisingly, the White House sees China as a potential ally in its effort — due to Beijing’s own ambitions to establish a long-term presence on the Moon.

“We’ve been hearing positive statements out of Luxembourg, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Australia, and frankly even China,” a senior administration official said today. “Of course, there are other problems with China as you’re well aware, but even on space resources, China has been open to discussing how to produce a more stable and predictable environment.”

On the other hand, NATO allies such as Germany and France may be opposed to the US approach, the official added, given their long-standing support for the UN and for binding international treaties as space governance mechanisms.

Indeed, there was some negative reaction among US allies abroad back in 2015 when Congress passed the US approach to future space resource extraction in the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act. Further, legal scholars are divided on the intent of the Outer Space Treaty with regard to resource extraction.

The executive order tasks the State Department with seeking like-minded countries to join the US in setting the standards for resource extraction, in part to get in front of NASA’s plan to ask for foreign partners in the Artemis program to return the US to the Moon and establish a long-term presence there. Artemis envisions using lunar resources such as heavy metals and lunar ice to provide water.

“If we’re going to be doing that in a sustainable way. We can’t follow everything up from Earth. We have to be able to use resources in space,” the senior administration official said.