A Doctrinal, Economic and Ethical Analysis of Property Rights on Celestial Bodies

Dr. Jayanthi Bai H L

Abstract: The 21st-century space race, unlike its predecessor, is dominated by commercial ambitions for in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), lunar settlement, and asteroid mining. These ambitions directly challenge the foundational principles of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty (OST), particularly its prohibition on "national appropriation." This paper conducts a deep analysis of the central legal impasse: the conflict between the non-appropriation principle of Article II of the OST and the "free use" principle of Article I. It examines the unilateral legal "workarounds" pioneered by the United States (2015 CSLCA) and the Artemis Accords, which assert that the right to extract and own resources is distinct from the prohibited appropriation of territory. Economically, this paper argues that the current legal ambiguity creates a critical barrier to investment. Without a clear lex situs (legal location) and security of tenure, high-risk, multi-billion-dollar extraction projects cannot be financed. This creates a "tragedy of the anti-commons?, where a lack of clear rules stifles development entirely. Ethically, this paper contrasts the U.S.-led "frontier" model with the "Common Heritage of Mankind" (CHM) principle, as codified in the 1979 Moon Agreement. It concludes that the Artemis Accords are rapidly creating de facto customary law that favors technologically advanced nations. The paper posits that a sustainable path forward requires a new, multilateral consensus-not to ban exploitation, but to manage it through a licensing and benefit-sharing regime, analogous to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Keywords: Space Law, Outer Space Treaty, Artemis Accords, Property Rights, Space Resource Utilization (SRU), Common Heritage of Mankind (CHM), Moon Treaty, UNCLOS, Article II

How to Cite?: Dr. Jayanthi Bai H L, "A Doctrinal, Economic and Ethical Analysis of Property Rights on Celestial Bodies", Volume 15 Issue 1, January 2026, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 121-123, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=SR251111145327, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR251111145327