Bringing Space Law into the Commercial World: Property Rights without Sovereignty

Abstract

International agreements declare that no government can claim outer space or celestial bodies in outer space as its own. Private firms seeking to invest in potential space enterprises frequently point to these provisions as a major barrier to the future commercial development of space. Such businesses contend that the absence of property rights prevent them from obtaining external financing, hinder the protection of their investments in space, and deprive them of the assurance that they can appropriate income from their investment. In short, the lack of sovereignty in space jeopardizes the ability to make profits from private investment. This article will critique those claims, arguing that most property rights exist in space and that the lack of sovereignty does not pose current or near- term problems for the types of business ventures likely to be developed in space. Furthermore, even in the case of future ventures, solutions based on terrestrial models would permit private companies to operate in space with reasonable reliance of the right to appropriate income from their investments.