The Legal Regime Governing the Exploitation of Natural Resources on the Moon CHRISTIAN KOENIG1Energy from Space and the Space Legal Regime The NASA Lunar Energy Enterprise Case Study (1989) did not address the legal issues brought up by solar power satellites or lunar power systems. It would appear that NASA has explored the far side of the moon more thoroughly than the necessary legal framework to permit large scale economically directed space activities. Solar Power Satellites From a purely technical standpoint, SPS does not require returning to the moon. SPS is intended to convert solar energy in space into microwaves or other appropriate radiation for transmission to Earth. This energy would be transmitted from SPS in geostationary orbit to large rectennas or other receivers on Earth. However, the economic desirability of SPS would appear to be greatly enhanced by processing and utilizing lunar materials for construction of the space segment. In addition, the amount of material which would have to be transported from Earth to space would be so large, regardless of whether lunar materials were used, that the construction of a global SPS system might result in significant global environmental damage from propulsion system byproducts. Since less energy is required to move mass to geostationary orbit from the lunar surface than from Earth’s surface, economic and environmental feasibility may require SPS construction from lunar derived materials. The natural resources of the moon would appear to provide the necessary materials for the construction of a network of solar power satellites in geostationary orbit. If the costs for processing and delivering lunar materials to geostationary orbit are competitive with the costs of providing terrestrial construction materials, more than 90 percent of the mass of an SPS could be made from materials mined, refined and fabricated on the moon. If placed near the moon, SPS could also serve as a power supply providing energy for a lunar base.
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