{"id":19663,"date":"2015-02-03T18:27:18","date_gmt":"2015-02-03T10:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/faa-opens-way-for-companies-to-stake-claims-to-lunar-rights\/"},"modified":"2015-02-03T18:27:18","modified_gmt":"2015-02-03T10:27:18","slug":"faa-opens-way-for-companies-to-stake-claims-to-lunar-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/faa-opens-way-for-companies-to-stake-claims-to-lunar-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"FAA opens way for companies to stake claims to lunar rights"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo
Photo via YouTube\/Moon trailer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do we have the right to reserve rights to the moon?<\/p>\n

Apparently so. At least that\u2019s the message the U.S. government appears to be sending. In an exclusive report by Reuters, \u201cU.S. companies can stake claims to lunar territory through an existing licensing process for space launches.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Federal Aviation Administration, in a \u201cpreviously undisclosed late-December letter to Bigelow Aerospace, said the agency intends to \u2018leverage the FAA\u2019s existing launch licensing authority to encourage private sector investments in space systems by ensuring that commercial activities can be conducted on a non-interference basis.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Reuters is reporting that this is the first clearance of the FAA to a private sector company, Nevada-based Bigelow, to \u201cset up one of its proposed inflatable habitats on the moon, and expect to have exclusive rights to that territory \u2014 as well as related areas that might be tapped for mining, exploration and other activities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
Bigelow\u2019s inflatable space habitat (NASA photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Technically, no one is auctioning off moon parcels just yet \u2014 the State Department has flagged a concern under the 1967 United Nations Outer Space Treaty, which partly governs activities on the moon. That treaty requires countries to authorize and oversee activities of non-government entities in space. It also prohibits national claims to celestial bodies, and states that space exploration should benefit all nations.<\/p>\n

Reuters reports that the letter was coordinated with \u201cU.S. departments of State, Defense, Commerce, as well as NASA and other agencies involved in space operations,\u201d only expanding the FAA\u2019s scope from launch licensing to planned activities on the moon, but it also points out that more \u201clegal and diplomatic work\u201d will need to be done.<\/p>\n

<\/span> U.S. companies can stake claims to lunar territory through an existing licensing process for space launches.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t give (Bigelow Aerospace) a license to land on the moon,\u201d the FAA letter\u2019s author, George Nield, associate administrator for the FAA\u2019s Office of Commercial Transportation, told Reuters. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about a payload review that would potentially be part of a future launch license request. But it served a purpose of documenting a serious proposal for a U.S. company to engage in this activity that has high-level policy implications.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bigelow is set to begin testing a space habitat on the International Space Station this year, the first step toward bringing paying customers to space, and has planned a series of moon bases to be operational around 2025.<\/p>\n

Regardless, it\u2019s a development likely to be watched closely by the growing number of firms with a presence in the Seattle area that have an interest in space exploration, including Boeing, Planetary Resources, Blue Origin and SpaceX.<\/p>\n

On a side note, if you haven\u2019t seen the excellent 2009 sci-fi flick starring Sam Rockwell as the loneliest moon employee ever \u2014 and it\u2019s directed by David Bowie\u2019s kid Duncan Jones \u2014 give it a go.<\/p>\n