Commercialization of Space Activities: Correlation of Private and Public Interest in the Pursuit of Outer Space Exploration

Abstract

The article reveals the issues of space exploration by private entities who have intensified their efforts in space activities. The US and Luxembourg legal regulations, which both govern the private sector involvement in State space activities and allow citizens to freely engage in the development of planets and asteroids, to own and dispose of resources, including water and minerals, are under analysis. Therefore, due to the occurrence of legal collisions, the International Law Association and the Space Law Committee, established on its basis, should influence regulating space issues. These institutions are known for their open policies and extensive external relations. Their key mission is to study, clarify and develop international public and private law and prepare comparative law research. The author concludes that being an important human resource, space objects and natural resources should belong to all humanity, not to individual States or private enterprises. The adoption of the US and Luxembourg legislation on legalizing, extracting, using and appropriating space resources by private enterprises seems to be in full compliance with international obligations, however, in fact they violate the principles governing the activities of States in the exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, which are not subject to national appropriation, neither by proclaiming sovereignty, nor by uses or occupation, nor by any other means.