Legal Analysis On The U.S. ?Space Resource Exploration And Utilization Act Of 2015?

On November 25,2015,the United States adopted the < Space Resource Exploration and Utilization Act of 2015>(hereinafter referred to <Space Resources Act >),entitling the United States Citizen the rights to explore and exploit outer space resources,and the rights includes to possess,own,transport,and sell the asteroid resource or space resource.The Act provides United States Citizen legislative protection for space resource exploration and utilization,but it has aroused widespread concern and hot discussion of the international community.The focus of the debate is whether the Act violates the relevant principles of international law.This paper consists of five chapters.Chapter 1 introduces the legislative background of the <Space Resources Act >,including development situation and legislation situation of United States at home and abroad.As the main part of the paper,Chapter 2,Chapter 3,and Chapter 4 analyze <Space Resources Act > theoretically and comparatively.Chapter 2 analyzes the "definitions" in the <Space Resources Act >,including the specific provisions of "Asteroid Resources","Space Resources" and "United States Citizen",as well as the legislative objectives behind the provisions.Chapter 3 discusses the provisions about the duties of supervision.Based on the <United States Code>section 51 and the < Code of Federal Regulation> Chapter 14,the paper proposes the allocation of regulatory functions.Chapter 4 analyzes the relevant rights entitled by the Act.Through the analysis of two important principles,the paper tries to conclude whether the rights in the Act are contrary to international space law.In this section,enlightened by the International Seabed Authority,the ABM Treaty and the International Space Station,the paper proposes that activities related to asteroid resource development can be managed through establishment of special management agencies,bilateral or multilateral agreements and international cooperation,etc.Certainly,the legislation of the United States would affect the plans,actions and legislation of major space countries.As the world's space power,China shall take part into it.In the last chapter,the paper puts forward the coping strategies to deal with the international situation of asteroid resources development.The paper argues that China should promote the construction of international mechanisms with other counties.At home,it is necessary to prepare from the perspective of strategy,technology and legislation.