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Luxembourg Just Passed A New Asteroid Mining Law (engadget.com)
Remember when NASA visited an asteroid with $10 quintillion worth of minerals? Now the lucrative asteroid-mining industry is being pursued by "the European banking hub with a population not much bigger than Albuquerque's," reports Bloomberg, as low-cost reconnaissance missions are already looking "increasingly feasible." An anonymous reader writes:
Last week Luxembourg's parliament unanimously passed an asteroid mining law (which goes into effect Tuesday) "that gives companies ownership of what they extract from the celestial bodies..." according to Engadget. "Luxembourg's law is pretty similar to the one President Obama signed back in 2015 in that it gives mining companies the right to keep their loot. Both of them also take advantage of a loophole in the UN's Outer Space Treaty, which states that nations can't claim and occupy the moon and other celestial bodies. They don't give companies ownership of asteroids, after all, only the minerals they extract.. Unlike the U.S. version, though, a company's major stakeholders don't need to be based in Luxembourg to enjoy its protection -- they only need to have an office in country."
Bloomberg reports that the law "could serve as a model for other small countries hoping to explore asteroids -- and to get a piece of the booming space business," since the tiny country is also offering to buy equity stakes in any companies which relocate to Luxembourg. "Luxembourg's success in attracting these companies should show other small countries that space isn't just for superpowers any more... Competition has made space achievable for many more companies, and for the countries that support them."
For the last few years Luxembourg has begun quietly investing in asteroid mining, including a joint venture with "Deep Space Industries" to build a spacecraft to test asteroid-mining technologies -- while another collaboration with Kleos Space is working on "in-space manufacturing technology."
Bloomberg reports that the law "could serve as a model for other small countries hoping to explore asteroids -- and to get a piece of the booming space business," since the tiny country is also offering to buy equity stakes in any companies which relocate to Luxembourg. "Luxembourg's success in attracting these companies should show other small countries that space isn't just for superpowers any more... Competition has made space achievable for many more companies, and for the countries that support them."
For the last few years Luxembourg has begun quietly investing in asteroid mining, including a joint venture with "Deep Space Industries" to build a spacecraft to test asteroid-mining technologies -- while another collaboration with Kleos Space is working on "in-space manufacturing technology."
I'm sure that the first country / corporation that can regularly make (monthly, weekly, daily) trips to the asteroid field (any of them) in a self-sustaining and relatively error-free manner will totally care what is written in that {treaty, law, etc.}. I'm also sure that they will do a long-term study of the ramifications of mining our asteroid belts. /s
Biggest European satellite corporation is based in Luxembourg (SES Astra).
Actually, make that the largest satellite corporation, no other qualifier - SES is biggest, worldwide. And yes, they did conceive their first satellite from Luxembourg. Many space-oriented companies are based in Luxembourg, around SES.
Luxembourg may be a tiny country, but regarding space, they are a big player. And these space mining laws being put in place are there to attract more know-how to Luxembourg, not some mailboxes to siphon money.
The point of the outer space treaty is to avoid the situation where one country claims an entire planet or moon or asteroid for themselves, so that other countries no longer have access to its resources. The whole point is cathegorically not to make all of space off-limits to human use, including research and industrial uses.
In other words, you can go out there and mine asteroids, and you will be able to sell the minerals because you will own them. However, you cannot claim an entire asteroid, so if another country wants to set up shop on the same asteroid, they are free to do so.
Presumably, future treaties will need to work out how to deal with the inevitable conflict.
"Take a look at maritime law for plenty (~600 years) of examples. The whole notion of ship's registry [wikipedia.org] or its flag state [wikipedia.org] tells you where all this is going. Luxembourg is simply making a play to be the Liberia of the future space merchant fleet."
Exactly. I', from Luxembourg and even if the country is landlocked, there are more worldwide sailors organized in our unions than any other profession.
Also SES, the biggest satellite company worldwide is located here. (founded here in 1985)
It's business and it's going to be big.
Luxembourg is a tax shelter, like Monaco and Delaware. That's all.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'