MINING IN OUTER SPACE AND THE GLOBAL PUBLIC INTEREST: ANALYSIS OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL REGULATIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE EXPLORATION AND USES

• Autor(a) principal: Lopes Matos Carneiro de Farias, Inez
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Daltio de Farias, Ítalo
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Direito.Unb (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.unb.br/index.php/revistadedireitounb/article/view/34853
• topic: Tratado do Espaço Exterior; Direito internacional; Recursos naturais espaciais; Mineração espacial; Sustentabilidade; The Outer Space Treaty; International law; Space natural resources; Space mining; Sustainability

The exploration of natural resources in outer space, including minerals, is getting closer and closer to becoming technologically possible and will no longer be mere science fiction. Projects point to the exploration of the Moon's natural resources and asteroids. The potential depletion of natural resources has led researchers to seek alternatives outside the Earth, including the exploitation of natural resources in outer space. This article aims to study the current regulatory frameworks on the subject and to show the competence of international law to set forth international standards related to the exploration and use of natural resources in outer space. The regulation absence on the subject tends to raise new national laws, that generates normative competition, whose rules may not be in compliance with the peremptory rules international space law. The increase in private companies in space activities intensifies the public-private partnership. However, sustainability for the exploitation and use of natural resources in outer space must comply with the principle of global public interest - that is, the interest of the entire international community and of all countries, regardless of the degree of development, by the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. Based on the qualitative analysis, the result of this research reveals the need to adopt international standards that regulate and determine the applicable law to such activities, even if it starts with soft law standards at a global level. In addition, this article suggests a creation of an international authority for natural resources outer space, to centralize and control activities towards sustainable management in the exploration and use of space mineral resources.