Non-conformity of 2015 US Space Act to the Outer Space Treaty in issues related to commercial exploitation of natural resources in space

Abstract

The thesis assigns the paramount importance to identifying whether property rights to natural resources in space are acknowledged and well-founded. This research aims to bring the utmost attention to the three research questions. First, whether the rights of the United States citizens granted by the Space Act are compatible with the current treaty laws governing the outer space and celestial bodies. Second, whether property rights to resources may be established without a sovereign appropriation of celestial bodies. Third, whether commercial exploitation of natural resources in space, particularly, contained within celestial bodies, could have an effect on the global economy.