To Begin: The Outer Space Treaty of 1967

Laws that extend to outer space and the heavenly bodies will, of course, begin with our Earthly laws. Believe it or not, the global powers began preliminary discussions on the topic before the 1960s. The first major legal document produced by these discussions was The Outer Space Treaty. This treaty, formally known as the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, was drafted in 1967 and is the basis of international space law. Although it began with the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, today it has been signed by over ninety countries around the world.

So what did the world powers talk about when they discussed what laws should govern outer space? Nuclear weapons, of course. The treaty, which was drafted under the tensions of the Cold War, functioned mainly to prohibit the placement of nuclear weapons in orbit or on any celestial body. The nations agreed that there would not be any military bases, fortifications, or similar installations. Weapons testing is also banned, as is any other weapon of mass destruction aside from nuclear weapons. Sorry, no death stars. But that did not stop some nations from bringing weapons of lesser destruction into orbit. Russian cosmonauts regularly bring a handgun up with them. The Russian space station Salyut 3 was fitted with a 23mm cannon. There has also been talk of more insidious weapons systems, both overtly and covertly, but we must not be distracted from the topic at hand.

Perhaps the most important values articulated by the treaty are also the least likely to withstand the test of time. The treaty declares pretty much every natural resource outside the bounds of Earth to be the "common heritage of mankind." Article II specifically bans occupations and claims of sovereignty. The only things that can be owned in space are the man made objects that we put up there. Let's be honest: in the grand scheme of things, is that really going to pan out? As much as I admire the drafters for starting us all off on the right foot, I cannot help but be skeptical that the limited natural resources on Earth will satisfy the nations of the globe when every time they look through their telescopes all they see is an abundance of hydrocarbons, ice, diamonds (yes, diamonds), metals, and other sources of energy and industry.

It is against the backdrop of the Outer Space Treaty that we move on in our thought experiment that is Galactic Laws, but we must not forget the inability of dignity and fairness to keep at bay man's thirst for natural resources. As a whole, the dominant animal on planet Earth has spent a great deal of its time consuming things and fighting over who should get to consume them. As much as I hate to admit it, I do not think this is going to end in the final frontier. Countries have long been pushing the envelope with regards to the Treaty, including shooting down satellites from earth, planting a flag on the Moon, and who can forget Ronald Regan's Strategic Defense Initiative, AKA Project Star Wars. So although we must begin with the Outer Space Treaty, we must acknowledge its limitations for governing the future of space exploration.