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.
