[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Who will regulate space? (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 12/23/2015 7:24:11 AM EDT
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This thought occured to me with all the buzz about the FAA and drones since 'flight' has become ubiquitous in some sense when its as simple an Amazon order.
At the same time, Space X is continuing to make strides, the NASA SLS for the manned mission to Mars and the commercial transport to the ISS makes me think in due time space flight WONT just be in the hands of governments anymore. Yet once it becomes feasible for private space travel, who is gonna step in and dictate the rules? Right now at least for the US its largely NASA and to some extent the Air Force, but will it be one of them? The FAA? Some type of UN/Global org that deals with it? You know it'll happen at some point. |
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The UN would be the logical assumption And therefore would also dictate what happens on other celestial bodies? If they can say who goes in and out of space, wouldn't they also try to say what can and can't happen on another rock? That seems like the first step towards dissolution of nations into just Earth. |
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And therefore would also dictate what happens on other celestial bodies? If they can say who goes in and out of space, wouldn't they also try to say what can and can't happen on another rock? That seems like the first step towards dissolution of nations into just Earth. Quoted:
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The UN would be the logical assumption And therefore would also dictate what happens on other celestial bodies? If they can say who goes in and out of space, wouldn't they also try to say what can and can't happen on another rock? That seems like the first step towards dissolution of nations into just Earth. That might very well be, since nation states are themselves a more modern amalgamation of earlier smaller political entities In the long term I would expect hat as we go out into space the residents there will see themselves as having few ties to Earth and may resent laboring to supply the old homeworld with its material needs. I would think it would be a gradual change just as colonists to the North American colonies came to see themselves as distinct from their European origins. That sort of political evolution has been covered in many sci fi writings |
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lol, my cat has more enforcement power than the UN... my cat has chemical weapons  Quoted:
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The UN would be the logical assumption lol, my cat has more enforcement power than the UN... my cat has chemical weapons No one nation will stand by allow for other nations to dominate space to its own exclusion I don't see it going any other way in the end it might have some other name hung on it, but it'll amount to the same thing |
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No one nation will stand by allow for other nations to dominate space to its own exclusion I don't see it going any other way in the end it might have some other name hung on it, but it'll amount to the same thing Quoted:
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The UN would be the logical assumption lol, my cat has more enforcement power than the UN... my cat has chemical weapons No one nation will stand by allow for other nations to dominate space to its own exclusion I don't see it going any other way in the end it might have some other name hung on it, but it'll amount to the same thing With space technology progressing by leaps and bounds, one could only assume it will increase global tension vying for the top spot. World War would necessarily make sense. He who controls the Earth, controls the stars. |
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Space is, and will always be, the wild west. It will only be regulated as far as regulating bodies spheres of influence allow them to enforce their rules. Anyone with the equipment and inclination to move outside of those spheres of influence, will.
Once escape of the gravity well becomes common place, relevancy of governments as we know them become minimal. |
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This. 
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It's going to be just like the high seas in the time of the pirates. Once we get enough critical mass up there that is. So people will do what they want when they want until some country or government gets fed up enough and starts enforcing their rules. Space is big. Like really really big. Imagine as hard as you can how big space is, but it's bigger than that. Lots. 
All the "high seas" of Earth, and Earth itself.. to make an analogy, imagine the Solar System compared to the largest sports stadium in the world, is like a grain of sand whizzing around, and the sun is a baseball, Jupiter is an airsoft BB. Nobody is going to police this. The best you can do is control docking/landing rights at various stations, asteroids, moons etc. that are popular. Anyone who's willing to spend the time and the fuel to go somewhere in the Solar System is going to be able to do it. If someone doesn't like what they're doing, you'd have to be willing to reactively on a moment's notice spend the same or more fuel, and travel for months, years maybe to "do something about it". Hope they're still there or in range when you get there. 
This is true for the pirates, the military, the police, the privateers, the corporations. |
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How about nobody regulates space, and we just let things proceed naturally? Why do some people think every damn thing needs to be regulated? Do you really think the governments of the world won't try and impose regulations and taxes? If so, I suggest you take a look around you. The object of government is to govern, that is, to control. Allowing any area (or space, if you will) to exist without attempting to impose control is is against the very nature of those drawn to work in government. |
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I realize being proudly ignorant of international is like a badge of honor for some here, but the Outer Space Treaty is older than me, and well established.
It also anticipated this, and requires that states parties to the treaty regulate the activities of private entities that operate in space and which are otherwise under their jurisdiction (Article VI). http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/introouterspacetreaty.html There is currently no established secretariat or means to address issues with this treaty, it's an ad hoc arrangement (Article XIII). If space travel really picked up, that treaty would likely be re-addressed, especially since the modern era of multinational corporations complicates things. The parallel to maritime law does raise an interesting other concern related to this, with the absurdity under which commercial ships are often flagged these days. Of course, I may be contradicting myself here - because if the maritime law situation still hasn't addressed it, I doubt space law will even if it became an issue. Heck, imagine private carriers flagged to non-states parties to the treaty? Now, there's a loophole if I ever saw one. |