Global Administrative Law and Regulation of Extraction of Minerals in Outer Space

• Author: Alexander Zyma
• Position: Ph.D., Associate Professor, Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University (Kharkiv, Ukraine)
• Pages: 125-135

Advanced Space Law, Volume 4, 2019 125

Global Administrative Law and Regulation of

Extraction of Minerals in Outer Space

Alexander Zyma1

Ph.D., Associate Professor, Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University

(Kharkiv, Ukraine)

E-mail: zima_ot2@ukr.net

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4937-871X

Entrepreneurship is one of the areas of space exploration. The steadily growing number of types of

space entrepreneurship, the risk increases that some of them will remain outside the legal framework.

The aim of the study is to analyse the state of aairs in legal regulation of extraction of minerals in outer

space, evaluate its shortcomings and propose new means of regulating this type of business relations. The

authors hypothesize that it is expedient to exercise legal regulation of extraction of minerals on celestial

bodies and their import to Earth by the provisions of global administrative law. In addition, it is proposed

to create a global administrator of space resource relations. It should be provided with a set of legal

means that will ensure regulation of social relations in this eld to avoid threats to the world market from

the uncontrolled supply of space resources to Earth.

Keywords: mineral deposits; space entrepreneurship; global administrative law

Received: September 01, 2019; accepted: October 07, 2019

Advanced Space Law, Volume 4, 2019: 125-136.

https://doi.org/10.29202/asl/2019/4/12

Introduction

The rst space object (Elementary Satellite-1) was launched into outer space by the Soviet

Union on October 4, 1957. This date can be considered the beginning of active exploration of

space by man. The importance and signicance of space activities for all humanity required its

legal regulation at the international level. In 1959, the UN Committee for the Peaceful Uses

of Outer Space was established and it is still in force. Its legal subcommittee has played and

continues to play an important role in shaping international space law. The basic international

instrument to regulate space relations is the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of

States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial

Bodies of 12 January 1967 (hereinafter the Outer Space Treaty). Ukraine is one of the rst

States to ratify it. It happened on May 22, 1967.

Since 1957, space exploration and space activities have been conducted in two dierent

areas. First, it is activities related to space exploration. Second, these are various forms of

© Zyma, Alexander, 2019.