Zur Zukunft des Weltraumbergbaus

Nachdem die ersten sechs Dekaden menschlicher Weltraumfahrt neben militärischen Anwendungen weitgehend der Erforschung des Weltraums gedient haben, zeichnen sich nunmehr neue kommerzielle Nutzungsformen ab. Wünschenswert ist deshalb, dass die internationale Gemeinschaft ein Regime für die kommerzielle Nutzung des Weltraums erarbeitet. The first sixty years of humankind’s travel into outer space were characterized more through military and scientific goals, rather than those of a commercial character. Changes on this front have taken place within the past decade: mankind seems to find a genuine interest in large-scale commercial exploitation of the moon and the other celestial bodies. Of course, the question of the legality of such actions is immediately at stake. Clarification is required. A UN-negotiated legal regime is needed for the commercial use of celestial bodies – a task that has been made an official topic on the international agenda since the adoption of the Moon Agreement in 1979.