A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through?

by Kelly Weinersmith

We think skipping over the law is a colossal mistake if you want to have any idea about how space settlement is likely to happen. In our experience talking to enthusiasts, they frequently assume that space law will just melt away due to the amazingness of space settlement. Or will be bowled over because nobody has the right to stand in front of the United States, or just Elon Musk in particular. There’s no reason to believe this, and in the meantime the law already affects spacefaring behavior. Chris Lewicki, who was president of Planetary Resources, Inc., told us that the vagueness of the law was a serious barrier to investment and contributed to the fall of his asteroid mining company. Legal scholars we talked to had even bigger concerns—that the law is unprepared for modern developments, and that any kind of race to grab, say, Moon territory, could spark conflict. That’s a depressing thought, especially if you agree with our assessment that the Moon doesn’t hold a lot of economic value.