Privateering on the space frontier? The ‘NewSpace’ quest for private property in outer space Matthew Johnson – PhD Candidate (University of Technology, Sydney – Arts and Social Sciences)
NewSpace NewSpace • A “more expansive, positive, and indeed, urgent orientation toward a future of space settlement, with commercialization seen as the logical path towards this goal” (Valentine 2012, p.1049) • ‘Pro ‐ space’, ‘alt ‐ space’… • Historical transition: away from government ‐ centred space development, towards private sector
G. G.K. K. O’ O’Nei Neill (1977) (1977) ‘The The Hi High gh Fr Fron ontier tier’ • Post ‐ Apollo space politics • The cycle of space advocacy? • “first, enthusiasm about the big idea and a desire to communicate it with others. • Second, the encounter with the realities of government and politics, leading to frustration. • Third, the scaling down of near ‐ term goals and their pursuit by indirect or private means”. (Michaud 1986, p.81)
NewSpace libertarianism • Bureaucracy, inefficiency, funding stoushes, ‘design ‐ by ‐ committee’ • “It’s as though the Moon landing never happened” – David Chambers, MirCorp (in Potter & Neiman 2008) • Reagan Administration pursuit of space commercialisation and broader platform of marketisation and deregulation • The L ‐ 5 Society and the Moon Agreement • “Only through fiscally responsible policy, which limits government bureaucracy and stimulates the free market, will the United States expand on its leadership in space” (Tea Party in Space)
Mi MirCor orp: p: • 1999 1999 ‐ 2001: 2001: MirCorp leasing agreement with RSC Energia • Space tourism, manufacturing, gateway for space mining • ‘Anarcho ‐ capitalist’ Walt Anderson as chief financial backer • US US St State Departm Department del deliber eratel ely del delayi ying ex export lice license ses / influenci uencing Russi Russian an pol policy? cy? • Ma March 2001: 2001: Mir de ‐ orbit; MirCorp dissolves
Pi Piracy cy, the the priv privateer eer and and em empir pire ‐ bui building ding • Pirates as Hostis humani generis (enemy of all humanity) • The letter of marque and reprisal • Privateering and European state ‐ building Sir Francis Drake (1540 ‐ 1596)
• The Outer Space Treaty 1967 : • “Outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty...” (Article II) • The US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of 2015: • “A United States citizen engaged in commercial recovery of an asteroid resource or a space resource …shall be entitled to any asteroid resource or space resource obtained, including to possess, own, transport, use, and sell the asteroid resource …in accordance with applicable law , including the international obligations of the United States” (Title IV). • Private property rights anchored in the sovereign power of the state • The paradox of libertarian NewSpace extending state power into the frontier commons
American Space Commerce Free Enterprise Act of 2017 • § 80111. Protecting the interests of United States entity space objects: • ‘‘The President shall ensure that United States entity exploration and use of outer space, including commercial activity and the exploitation of space resources, is secure from acts of foreign aggression and foreign harmful interference and is given due regard, and the President shall uphold the ownership rights of space objects of United States entities. Space objects certified under this chapter shall receive the full protection of the United States.’’
• References: • E. L. Hudgins (Ed.), Space: The Free Market Frontier (pp. ix–xxvi) . Washington, DC: Cato Institute. • O’Neill, G.K. 1977, The High Frontier: Human colonies in outer space, Morrow, New York. • Potter, M., & Neiman, B. (Dir.) (2008). Orphans of Apollo [motion picture]. Free Radical Productions • Tea Party in Space (2014) Platform [website]. Retrieved from http://teapartyinspace.org/?page_id=10 • Valentine, D. (2012). Exit Strategy: Profit, Cosmology, and the Future of Humans in Space. Anthropological Quarterly, 85(4), 1045–1068. doi:10.1353/anq.2012.0073
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