World Space Week: Who owns space?

15,045 views ・ 2021-10-05

BBC Learning English


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First countries, now companies, are trying to get into space,
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but can they keep what they find up there?
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As more people aim for the stars,
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we'll show you how the law is ahead of them.
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We've passed the six-minute mark in our countdown for Apollo 11.
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Could any country ever take over another planet?
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In general, the international space law works...
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works in a manner where if...
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if you keep somebody else out,
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then the other person would probably keep you out as well.
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Ignition sequence starts.
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And the new space race is on...
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but what can companies actually own from space?
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When America landed the first man on the moon,
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why didn't he just say it was US property?
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That's one small step for man...
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If Russia became the first state to send someone to Mars,
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what would stop them from owning it?
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One thing – the Outer Space Treaty –
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signed by more than a hundred countries.
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It says no country can claim any part of outer space:
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space belongs to every nation.
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But in 2020, eight countries signed the Artemis Accords.
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They're an agreement between governments
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who are taking part in the Artemis programme,
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an American-led effort to land on the moon.
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But not everyone is happy.
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China, India and even big companies are blasting off into space.
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So how does the law help decide who owns what they find up there?
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Commercial space lawyer, Deepika Jayakodi,
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explained what the first major bit of space law – the Outer Space Treaty –
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says about what countries can own in space.
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There's one article which says that the Moon
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and the celestial bodies in outer space
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are free for exploration and use,
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and then there's another article that says that
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no country can stake a claim in space:
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you cannot appropriate a portion of space.
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So, although you can use things –
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the structures that you build on the Moon or a celestial body –
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you cannot really claim to own the territory in which you put this.
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The Outer Space Treaty says that,
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while you can use things you find in space,
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you can't actually claim somewhere as your territory
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and stop other countries from using it too.
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What does this mean if a country wants to build a Moon base?
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A country can set up a base on the Moon
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and you can use the materials that are available on the Moon
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to build this base: you could use the Moon rocks,
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you could use the Moon dust and so on.
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So, you own the resources as soon as they are extracted from the Moon.
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But you don't own the territory from which you extract these resources.
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Countries can set up bases on the Moon,
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but still wouldn't own the part of the Moon they're on.
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They can use the things they find up there, such as water or rocks.
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So, could you keep another country out of your base?
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In general, the international space law works...
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works in a manner where if...
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if you keep somebody else out,
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then the other person would probably keep you out as well.
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So, you would rather build a base
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and ensure that it is accessible to others
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as long as they provide you access to their site or base as well.
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Space laws require cooperation
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between the countries and organisations involved.
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If you keep people off your base, they'd do the same to you.
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Deepika explained why there's a disagreement over the Artemis Accords.
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These principles reflect already the principles in the Outer Space Treaty
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and the concern of some countries and scholars
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is that these principles reflect a US position
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or a US interpretation of space laws.
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In... space law is an international law
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and it is important that it takes into account
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the different perspectives coming in from different parts of the world.
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The US came up with these new rules with a number of other countries.
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Some experts worry the Artemis Accords
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might just reflect a US point of view,
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rather than working with the whole world.
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So, while countries can use what they find in space,
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it's harder to say they own a planet or a moon.
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But what if we're not just talking about countries?
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When the space race started last century,
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it was a competition between the United States and the Soviet Union.
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But now a new contest is under way,
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this time between two billionaires
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who made their fortunes on the internet.
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Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Tesla's Elon Musk
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don't simply want us to get back into space,
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they want us to stay there – with talks of cities on Mars...
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So, how will the law cover corporations
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who are exploring beyond our planet?
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Dr Thomas Cheney, from the Open University,
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explains how the law covers what private companies can own.
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It's a very grey area
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within the international space law system,
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but property law is based on the country that you are from,
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or that you are interested in,
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and it follows you into outer space.
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So, you know, you have to get permission from your government
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to even go into outer space and you...
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because you are operating in a spaceship,
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then the laws of your country apply in that spaceship.
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And so it follows you, as you go into outer space.
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Current space law isn't actually very clear
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as to what a company can own in space,
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so we sometimes use property law from our own countries.
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Is this changing?
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Yes, space law is developing and it is something –
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countries are actively trying to change laws,
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particularly around ownership,
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because they feel that being able to own things like space resources
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is vital for the economic development of outer space.
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And so they are saying that if you're a company
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and you do the work to extract a resource from outer space,
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then they will recognise that you have property rights over that.
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Countries are developing laws
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over what their private companies can own in space.
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This helps the countries to grow
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by using the huge amount of resources that are up there.
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How would you decide who owns something if there's a disagreement?
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So, under the current rules,
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the best way to do that is to sue someone in a court –
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or the only way to do that is to sue someone in a court,
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but that's a time-consuming and expensive process,
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so we want to avoid that if possible.
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But that requires some rules and guidelines
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to more amicably or peacefully resolve these conflicts,
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without having to go to court.
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Any disputes over ownership in space would be settled in court,
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but it is time-consuming and expensive.
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As we go into new territories in space, how do we design new laws?
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That's... that's absolutely one of the biggest challenges.
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We can look at some other regimes, other systems,
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like the Law of the Sea Convention,
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because that environment is somewhat similar to outer space.
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But the main way of doing it is we start with voluntary processes,
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So, we... we get together with the industry actors
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who are thinking about doing these activities
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and we, kind of, come up with some guidelines
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or some... and some basic principles for how to behave,
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and over time this will evolve into a legal framework.
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It's a huge challenge, but we would use similar laws,
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like those covering the sea, to create space laws.
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These will change over time.
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We've seen that the law makes sure one country or organisation
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can't claim they own a planet or a moon,
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but they are allowed to use what they find in space.
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And, as private companies start to head into orbit,
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the law will be with them, changing
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to keep space free for everyone.
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