Today we’re going to talk about space laws.
So back in ye old days property owners had the rights to their land going up forever
and ever in perpetuity but then the airplane came around and smart people realized that
you couldn’t just go around asking every property owner for permission to fly through
their airspace so governments decided that they would own the air above a certain level.
In general, governments decided that property owners owned their land up to 500 feet above
ground level, and then the air above that, going up infinitely, was to be owned and controlled
by the government.
This made life easier for airplanes, but then America invented space, and that made things
a little more complicated.
In most cases satellites and spacecraft orbit around the earth, so it would be a logistical
nightmare to request permission to enter into the airspace of each nation in an orbit.
Once again, smart people got together and decided that those air rights that countries
had given themselves should end at a certain level.
Different countries say different things, but all of them agree that somewhere between
19 miles above earth, the altitude of the highest airplanes and balloons, and 99 miles
above earth, the altitude of the lowest orbiting satellites, a country’s claim to sovereignty
stops.
So this begs the question, which laws apply in space?
So let’s say that an astronaut commits a small crime while in space, like, I don’t
know, doing a line while on a spacecraft.
This isn’t a huge crime against humanity, but they’re gonna have to be punished.
If the astronaut had those happy times while on the spacecraft of a specific country, it
would be clear which country would prosecute.
If it was in a Soyuz capsule, Russia would prosecute, if it was in a SpaceX capsule,
the US would prosecute.
Much like with boats, the spacecraft is considered to be an extension of the sovereignty of that
country.
But, let’s say Mr Astronaut did his line while on the moon, who would prosecute then?
The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 says that no country can claim a section of space or a
celestial body as their territory, so this means that no country’s laws apply universally
on the moon.
Well this is where the idea of extraterritorial jurisdiction comes into play.
In almost every country, citizens are subject to the laws of their own country even if they
are outside of the country.
This doesn’t apply when they are in other countries since the other country’s laws
trump the extraterritorial jurisdiction, but when they aren’t in any country, these laws
do apply.
This means that two people in the exact same place can be subject to different laws.
An 18 year old British astronaut could technically drink on the moon while an 18 year old American
astronaut could not.
Just to make things a little more complicated, the rules are different on the International
Space Station.
The Space Station agreement, the document that outlines the rules of the ISS, says that
in most cases, extraterritorial jurisdiction applies—each astronaut is subject to the
laws of their own country.
However, if for example an American astronaut, say, punches a French one out of frustration,
France would be allowed to prosecute the American astronaut.
The same rule applies with property—if a British astronaut smashes a Canadian’s astronauts
computer, Canada could prosecute the Brit.
In addition, this agreement allows for extradition of astronauts in all cases, regardless if
the two countries have a normal extradition treaty.
This is actually pretty important, because Russia doesn’t have an extradition treaty
with the US.
That means that Russia doesn’t have to give up individuals who have committed a crime
in which the US has the right to prosecute.
In the case that a Russian commits a crime against an American on the ISS, however, Russia
would be obliged to extradite that astronaut.
Another situation to look at is what would happen if a baby was born in space.
First off, this is a super-hypothetical because it’s unknown if its even possible for a
baby to be born in zero gravity, and, if they were, their bones would be so brittle that
they would crush under their own weight if they returned to gravity.
It’s unlikely that any country would allow for an astronaut to have a baby in space because
that would be, like, super un-ethical.
But for the sake of argument let’s say there was a space-baby, what nationality would that
baby be?
There actually is precedent for this question.
13 babies have been born in Antartica, where there is a similar treaty that disallows sovereignty.
While those babies were not born in their parents’s countries, they took their parents
nationalities.
The same policy applies in space.
There are countries, however, that don’t give citizenship to babies born outside of
the country, so in that case, the baby would take the citizenship of the country of the
spacecraft they were born in.
This is the same rule that applies when a baby is born on an airplane in flight, they
take the nationality of their parents, and if that’s not possible they take the nationality
of the country in which the aircraft is registered.
And what happens if the baby is born on the Moon or Mars where there is no sovereignty?
Well I don’t know man what do I look like a lawyer?
But seriously, nobody really knows.
This is just one of many flaws in current space law.
Only 536 people have been to space, and all of them were highly trained and were representing
their country.
They just aren’t the type of people to commit crimes.
As commercial space-flight and space tourism develop, all these laws will need to be made
more clear to prevent future problems.
Gone is the era when these laws can just be figured out when and if the time comes.
In the near future we could be seeing space-mining as well, and that will require economic laws
and environmental treaties.
The coming decades will be a fascinating time while we watch not only the development of
commercial space industries, but also as we lay out the legal and political groundwork
needed for the opening of the final frontier.