La NASA fait appel à des entreprises privés pour prospecter les ressources lunaires

NASA isn't too clear about what exactly it's hoping for private companies to do once they get to the moon. What exactly do they mean by commercial activities? How might companies make money by rocketing off to the moon? One possibility is mining – lunar soil is rich in rare earth elements that are in demand on our home planet, along with helium-3, which could be turned into a clean energy fuel for nuclear fusion. But Professor Ian Crawford of Birkbeck University, London, told BuzzFeed, “It can’t be said that NASA are looking to mine the moon just yet." 

Furthermore, NASA's recent initiative has brought up discussions over lunar property rights. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty of the United Nations prohibits countries from laying claim to the moon and sticking their flags all over the crater-filled terrain. But back in the '60s, people didn't expect that anyone other than governments would be able to explore Earth's satellite. Now that space travel is more accessible, some have argued for preserving the moon as an international science preserve.

The 1967 Outer Space Treaty of the United Nations prohibits countries from laying claim to the moon and sticking their flags all over the crater-filled terrain.

«La Lune offre de vastes possibilités pour une variété de sociétés pas seulement aux États-Unis, mais dans le monde», insiste Michael Gold, soulignant l'engouement en Europe et au Japon, comme au Congrès américain, pour retourner sur la Lune.

The primary objective of this first European Lunar Lander mission is to demonstrate the European ability to deliver a payload safely and accurately to the Moon’s surface. Once successfully landed, the mission will also offer the opportunity to conduct important scientific investigations with a view to future human exploration.

Bigelow is convinced that the issue of the title to property outside the Earth's orbit does not violate the Outer Space Treaty of 1967.

That intergovernmental document does carry a legal collision, explains Igor Lisov, deputy editor-in-chief of the News of Cosmonautics magazine.

"On the one hand, there is the rule of international law, according to which space objects and their surfaces cannot be claimed by any nation. On the other hand, these documents say nothing about private use of such objects".

Konstantin a écrit:

D'après Bigelow le traité de l'espace de 1967 n'empêche pas de créer des titres de propriété en dehors de l'orbite terrestre.

Ce document contient une contradiction car d'un côté d'après le droit international les objets spatiaux et leurs surfaces ne peuvent être revendiqué par aucune nation. Mais d'un autre côté il n'y est fait aucune mention d'utilisation privée de ces objets spatiaux.