The Battle for Mars: How Elon Musk, Blue Origin, and the United States Established the First Extraterrestrial Government

The moment when the first human set foot on Mars became even closer. 140 million miles between Earth and the red planet will be broken within the next two decades. NASA expects.

Recently, the space agency announced its plans for the Artemis moon missions – It aims to take place in 2024 – which could establish a lunar base on the moon as a starting point before the first walk in planetary space.

But for some, just taking the first step on an alien planet doesn’t seem far enough from the future. Once a society is established on Mars, discussions need to be held about exactly how it should be managed and functions. Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, is one of those people planning such a future, and it looks like he has already laid the groundwork in the company’s current product terms of service.

The ruling law section states that, “With regard to services rendered on Mars, or during the transition to Mars via spacecraft or other colonial spacecraft, both parties recognize Mars as a free planet and that no government established on Earth has authority or sovereignty over the activities of Mars “.

“Accordingly, disputes will be settled by the principles of self-government, which are established in good faith, at the time of the Mars settlement.”

SpaceX has not responded to multiple attempts to obtain more information from The IndependentBut experts suggest that adding this clip could actually have two purposes: The first is that it is a joke; The second is that it lays the groundwork for the Martian constitution – based on how lenient the current space exploration legislation actually is.

The section Musk added is “a little bit of talk in his contracts … referring to this Martian constitution he’s going to work on,” according to Randy Segal, of the law firm Hogan Lovells. “It is trying to include in its commercial terms … how it will comply with applicable law.”

The law in force here is the 2020 Artemis Agreements and the 1957 Outer Space Treaty (by which the signatories of the Artemis Agreements say they will abide by). Among those legislations, the following line: “Outer space is not subject to national ownership under the pretext of sovereignty, or through use or occupation, or by any other means.” As a result, these treaties prevent space exploration from becoming “an expropriation of Earth,” as Segal describes it.

However, the regulations are, in general, “motherhood and apple pie” as Segal says – an American phrase that means something that no sane person can disagree with, such as provisions for transparency, interoperability and emergency assistance regarding space exploration.

“The entire law of space envisages that those of us on this planet share rights and responsibilities to make space something that we can all share together,” says Segal.

“In general, if a clause is illegal, you must read the rest of the contract to be enforceable and individually based. He added a section regarding Mars services (which are not provided today, so they have no effect)” but within five or 10 years “He can review his contract.

“I don’t know a clause like this other than a humorous and noteworthy thing is something that does anything for the rest of the decade at all. Maybe he’s trying to lay some groundwork to introduce an independent constitution … just as he did for electric cars and reusable launch vehicles. Does it have precedent or portability?” “The answer I will say is clearly no, but if I say enough, people may come.”

While MASIC contracts may not be legally effective)Or “nonsense,” as one of the professors considered them), They will likely start a conversation about how lawmakers are planning a constitution for Mars. This is something that SpaceX’s general council, David Anderman, seems to be actually looking into.

“Our goal is to be able to send 1,000 spacecraft with 100 people every two years,” Anderman said. Interested in business.

“We’ll start with 100, then a few hundreds, then 100,000, then a million until we have a really sustainable colony. It’ll happen in my life. Faster than you think.”

He also said he expects SpaceX to “enforce our own legal system”, but it will be “interesting to see how terrestrial governments that exercise control are dealt with.” Undererman did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Independent Before publishing.

While colonialism may be the way SpaceX and other companies think of exploring extraterrestrials, Musk legally has a higher chance of creating a community rather than a colony, as it will remain under the rule of the United States.

“A society is a group of people with common interests and characteristics. Colonial is a legal term that applies to lands under the sovereignty and authority of the colonial state,” said Professor Said Mestishar, Director of the London Institute for Space Policy and Law, The Independent.

At the moment, in the event that SpaceX or Musk create a community on Mars, its activity would be subject to US governance. However, future lawmakers may see the need for a constitution that governs the entirety of Mars, rather than dividing laws into geographic states as is the case now.

It is not clear how exactly this will happen. In 2016Musk said his intentions to form a Martian government would be direct democracy, with people voting on issues themselves rather than through politicians under representative democracies as we do now.

“So the people will be the ones who will be voting directly on the issues. I think that maybe better, because the potential for corruption is greatly diminished in direct versus representative democracy.”

“I think I’d recommend some amendment for the sake of rigidity of laws,” Musk said. “It would be wise. Maybe it would be easier to remove a law than create a law.” “I think maybe that’s fine, because laws have infinite lives unless they are withdrawn.”

The benefits and pitfalls of such a system, like many government systems on the ground, are: a lot , Experts suggest that the most beneficial Martian government will likely be the one ultimately identified on Mars itself.

In addition to SpaceX, other spaceflight competitors, such as Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin, are also likely exploring similar proposals – albeit in a “somewhat more coherent and logical function than SpaceX,” Professor Von der Dunk, a space law expert in he said Nebraska Law College The Independent.

“It is very appropriate to think about how to address the certainty that disputes will arise that require a legal solution. In the end, of course, both SpaceX and all the other companies can only go forward,” he said, adding that while companies may set the agenda Ultimately, it is up to governments to decide whether to adopt it.

Blue Origin’s intentions to rule Mars remain unknown. Its founder, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, offered some hints to his idea of ​​life outside the planet, and predicted thatAn incredible civilizationA trillion people live in pastoral colonies similar to those physicist Gerard O’Neill has suffered.

“They are not what you imagine. I mean, they will have farms, rivers and universities. They can have a million people. They are cities. But I want to be able to go back to Earth as well,” Bezos said, But he’s taking a purposefully slower approach to space than musk. In regards to the legislation, Blue Origin said The Independent It wasn’t a topic he talked about.

As for what the future of those laws may be, strange legal cases in the past can provide some guidance. It had already been suggested that a murder had occurred in the Arctic, where a lack of jurisdiction meant it The killer was acquitted of all charges, It can provide the basis for extraterrestrial laws where jurisdiction cannot reach Earth.

Anderson told that there was a human drive to create stability through law The IndependentAnd, thus, it would result in a push for a framework that could be applied to the entire planet in a way that could not be done on Earth due to geological and cultural boundaries.

If Mask – or any other astronaut in space – is seeking favorable arrangements to ensure that the legislation he wants is what is being implemented, there are a number of avenues available.

Counties like Luxembourg have already started their sights The privatization of space, While other countries such as New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates have the appeal of potential space launch due to their geographical locations and tax advantages, respectively. Although it is unlikely that either will be home to the upcoming SpaceX or Blue Origin launch site – since the two companies are deeply steeped in the US industrial ecosystem for spacecraft manufacturing – they offer the opportunity for a distinctly non-US dominance outside of our region. Planet, Anderson’s hypotheses.

As for when the ultimate question, and most importantly, of when Mars could become self-sufficient with its own legal system, attorneys are uncertain – but it is possible that once the first community is established, it will seek equitable self-regulation. Quickly due to interplanetary communication difficulties.

“I have to bow to the real scientists here,” says Professor von der Donck. “Some of them may claim 10 years, and some may be a century or more.” “I’d probably safely put myself somewhere in the middle.”