The Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of 2015, sponsored by Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, was signed into law on November 25, 2015. The Act is more commonly known as the Space Act of 2015. To put it simply, it gives American entities the right to own materials collected in space.
Space law began in 1967 with the Outer Space Treaty signed by the U.N. States. The treaty made space exploration free for all nations. It disallowed nations from claiming sovereignty of celestial beings, banned putting nuclear weapons into orbit, and implemented other logistical laws to govern space exploration. The treaty does not address how to deal with space resources, only celestial bodies (planets, asteroids, moons, etc).
Some opponents of the Space Act see it as being incompatible with the Outer Space Treaty of 1967. If you can't own the moon, as laid out in the treaty, then you can't own the resources taken from the moon, is the logic of the opponents.
The treaty also declares "states shall avoid harmful contamination of space and celestial bodies." Due to the unknown effects of space mining, some are arguing that allowing the extraction of celestial materials may cause future harm to the environment.
So, by now, you may be asking, 'What the heck would people even do with space resources?' Well, plenty of companies have found ways to profit of off resources in space. Planetary Resources, a company directed by Larry Page, aka the creator of Google, is one of those companies. The goal of Planetary Resources is to collect the material on asteroids. That material contains particles of gold, platinum, helium, and many other elements that can be used on Earth. An asteroid around 90 feet in diameter could be worth as much as $50 billion. Other companies that are looking to expand into space mining are SpaceX, Orbital Science, and Deep Space Industries.
The passing of the Space Act of 2015 will not only benefit those companies wanting to mine material in space, but it also could stimulate the American economy. The creation of a new industry has the potential to create hundreds or thousands of new jobs.
The cost and risk of sending rovers and possibly people to space to collect material is still extremely high. So don't expect to see asteroid material for sale in the next few months or even years. The Space Act now allows those companies to spend money on research and development, with the intent on making huge profits in the future. The law also eases the fears of potential investors that the practice of space mining is illegal, and Planetary Resources and other similar companies will most likey see more investors.
This potential industry will play a major part in advancing our understanding the universe outside of Earth. Similar to when the car was invented or the Wright brothers flew the first plane, the passing of this law will go down in history as a pivotal moment.
