The passengers of the Mayflower, which arrived on the shores of the New World in 1620, were the first settlers to establish a permanent colony in North America. Almost 400 years later, Elon Musk presents the project of the new Mayflower, the passengers of which are to establish a colony on the Red Planet.
What laws are there for Mars now?
From the moment that earthlings "reached" space, there was a need for legal regulation of human activities in outer space. The foundation of international space law was laid with the signing in January 1967 of the "Treaty on the Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies", referred to as the "Outer Space Treaty" for short. The main cornerstone of this document is the provision of Article 2 of the Treaty: "Outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall not be subject to national appropriation either through the proclamation of sovereignty, use or occupation, or by any other means."
This means that no state can fence off a piece of Mars, as well as the Moon, and declare that now this is the territory of its country. No new Canada or Alaska will appear on Mars. And there will be no private land holdings on the Red Planet either. Despite the fact that the treaty does not explicitly state the prohibition of private property, the impossibility of proclaiming sovereignty over the Martian territory, as part of a celestial body, does not allow private property to arise on it. Sovereignty over the territory and the rights to the land plots located on it, if you can call it that on Mars, are inextricably linked. Without the state, by its coercive force, guaranteeing the observance of rights in a certain territory and establishing the grounds and procedure for the emergence of such rights, the emergence of property rights is impossible.
The Martian base as seen by the artist.
On Mars as international sea waters, neither states nor private companies will be able to claim their rights.
This, of course, does not mean that the Martian settlers will be deprived of rights and anyone can move them from the occupied territory, no. But this will probably be just some kind of priority right to use the site that you occupied first. For the above reasons, the colonists and companies colonizing Mars should not be afraid of the numerous "owners" of the Martian sites. The title deeds issued by the many extraterrestrial real estate offices have no legal effect. Unlike the state, "Martian realtors" cannot guarantee buyers of Martian real estate the recognition of their rights. Even if it is the self-proclaimed "Lunar Republic" created by the enterprising American Denis Hope.
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Another important document of space law, which is important in determining the procedure for legal regulation in outer space, is the Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space. The convention adopted by resolution 3235 (XXIX) of the UN General Assembly of November 12, 1974 resolves the issues of identifying space objects launched by man into orbit. And the registration itself already makes it possible to determine the jurisdiction of the spacecraft and ships sent into space. When launching a satellite or spacecraft into outer space, any state is obliged to enter it into its register of space objects. And about each space object entered in the register, it is necessary to inform the United Nations.
It is no coincidence that we call ships both those that plow the sea and those that conquer the cosmic expanses. The wheel was not reinvented when space law was created. Space is, in fact, international waters open for access and exploration by all states. Space technology, from manned spacecraft to robotic probes, are ships in these waters. Similar to the maritime register containing information about sea vessels, information about space vehicles is entered into space registers. And even if they are not on the territory of the country of registration, its power and sovereignty extend to them, just as they extend to diplomatic missions abroad, military ships and aircraft.
The Martian base as seen by the artist.
ISS as a prototype of an international colony in space
The International Space Station is the first object outside our planet, created by the efforts of many states. An international village on the moon, joint bases on Mars, or shared scientific and industrial facilities in orbit are all likely to have a legal regime similar to the ISS. Station modules launched into space by different countries are their property. And more recently, the first private module, BEAM, owned by Bigelow Aerospace, has appeared on the ISS. But, in addition, it is divided into legal zones with different jurisdictions.
The ISS Agreement, signed by partner countries on January 29, 1998, stipulates that each partner retains jurisdiction and control over the orbital elements of the station that it registers, provided to them. And also retains jurisdiction, including criminal, over its citizens, regardless of the territory of whose module they are located.
The Martian base as seen by the artist.
Private colonies in space
Thanks to maps from history textbooks, we remember that once the globe was colored with the colors of colonial European empires, in most cases it was private companies that were engaged in the development of overseas colonies. The British East India Company, for example, carried out the colonization of India and the countries of the East. Only a half-state-owned Russian-American company explored Alaska. It is not surprising that now private companies, such as, for example, SpaceX, Planetary Resources or Deep Space Industries, are taking up the business of colonization and space exploration.
The creation of permanent settlements outside the Earth is a new chapter in the history of mankind. For the first time, we are faced with the fact that, in addition to the crews of spaceships and space tourists, in the future there will be a third category of people going into outer space - colonists-settlers who fly away for a long time, if not forever.
And despite the fact that the territory of Mars will not belong to this or that state, the Martian colonies will not be outside the legal field. It is not worth expecting that private companies will do whatever they want on the Red Planet. As on a sea ship the law of the state under whose flag it floats, the laws of the country in whose register the given space object is entered will apply. And even going to the "shore", on the Martian surface, which does not belong to any state, these laws will have to be observed. Countries under whose flag private companies will send ships, colonists and space station personnel into space, through the issuance of permits, will ensure that private companies comply with both space law and domestic law.
Landing of the ship “ Dragon ”.
In Russia, in accordance with Art. 9 of the Law of the Russian Federation "On Space Activities", space activities are subject to licensing. This means that such activities as, for example, creating spacecraft and manned spacecraft, launching them into outer space and controlling them in flight are only possible after obtaining a license. A similar permit for space activities should be obtained by private companies in other countries, be it the United States or, for example, Luxembourg, intending to become a European hub for the extraction of space resources.
True, Russian legislation says nothing about the creation of settlements outside the Earth, and licensing for this type of activity is not carried out. As noted by Frans von der Dank, a space law specialist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, there is also no specific permission in US law to colonize space.
Colony constitution and the inalienable rights of a colonist
BBC Future reported some time ago about an interesting meeting that took place in one of the districts of south London. The event that brought together three dozen people in one poorly lit room on the outskirts of the British capital was the International Conference of Extraterrestrial Freedoms. And already the second in a row. Gathered enthusiasts of space colonization Charles Cockell - director of the British Center for Astrobiology and professor at the University of Edinburgh. Among those present were lawyers and anthropologists, philosophers and space explorers - scientists who came together to create a concept of management that does not yet exist in real life.
Charles Cockell is concerned about the future of humanity far from Earth. Freedom has played a very important role in the history of human civilization, he said. Therefore, he and his associates thought about the question: "How to ensure freedom for man in the harsh conditions of space?"
The conference delegates unanimously agreed that the time-tested Constitution of the United States should become a model for the basic law of an extraterrestrial colony. But life in space is fundamentally different from what people on Earth are used to. Life in a confined space far from human civilization, when you are separated from solar radiation and space vacuum by a thin partition of a space settlement, makes serious amendments to the laws of human settlement.
The key problem in the legal regulation of life in the Martian colonies is not what their laws will be, but who will establish them. Will the inhabitants of Mars live according to earthly laws or according to their own?
At the heart of the constitution of any colony outside the Earth should be the right to breathe air. We give little thought to the right to oxygen, having a huge atmospheric ocean overhead, which does not obey anyone on the planet. In a colony, air is a limited resource, and whoever controls oxygen gains the ability to control the entire population of the colony.
The right to leave the settlement must also become inalienable. However, how and at whose expense it will be implemented, the meeting has not been determined. The audience also borrowed something from ancient Greece. According to the enthusiasts' plan, some of the members of the colony's government will be elected, but some of the seats should be distributed according to the results of the lottery. All colonists must be involved in the political process of the space colony. Apathy and indifference can lead to the death of a settlement. Both for external reasons and internal. Cockell does not exclude the emergence of a dictatorship in the colony. There is also in his plans the development of instructions for overthrowing the government, if a dictatorship is established in the colony.
The Martian base as seen by the artist.
Indigenous Martians have no rights
Carl Sagan, a famous American astronomer and astrophysicist, an outstanding popularizer of science, known for his messages to extraterrestrial intelligence, engraved on the plates of "Pioneers" and "Voyagers", believed that if there is life on Mars, then it belongs to the Martians, even if they are just microbes. But we are unlikely to abandon the colonization of Mars if this is the only obstacle. We did not give up on the development of America and Australia just because the indigenous people live there.
Strictly speaking, we are a civilization in whose mass culture aliens occupy a significant place. Some conspiracy theories are worth what, not to mention the aliens in the movies and the numerous evidences of UFO sightings. But at the same time, not a single line is devoted to aliens in legal documents. Cosmic law completely ignores the very possibility that representatives of extraterrestrial intelligence exist and one day we may be able to meet with them on our planet or, say, on Mars. Any contact, although many are waiting for it, will not have any legal regulation. Relatively speaking, if you are lucky enough to meet an alien on your way and you exchange souvenirs with him, from the point of view of legislation, this will not be considered an exchange (barter agreement). Any object of extraterrestrial origin,received as a gift from an alien and exchanged from him, government services will be able to take away from you and you will not be able to defend your ownership of him. Hypothetical inhabitants of other planets are not subjects of law, and transactions with them are simply impossible.
& quot; Marsomobile & quot;.
Will the inhabitants of the colonies be able to create their own state on Mars and make their own laws?
At the beginning of the article, it is no coincidence that we turned to the events of four hundred years ago. To a large extent, our ideas about the future are formed in the past. At the dawn of space fiction, we still had no experience in space exploration. But there was an experience of the era of great geographical discoveries. A European, landing on almost every shore unknown to him, found more or less acceptable conditions for existence, and local residents. Subject to the rejection of some of the benefits of civilization of that time, it was quite possible to live and create colonies on the new open lands, without particularly thinking about maintaining contact with the metropolis.
But colonization of Mars will be different. The inhabitants of the first colonies on Mars will not be able to live without constant communication with the mother planet. Even if it is possible to organize the production of food, building materials, electricity generation on the Red Planet, then electronics, complex devices, medicines and much more, without which life in space is impossible, will have to be brought from Earth. It will be impossible for a very long time to recreate the terrestrial industry on Mars in order to fully meet the needs of settlements on the Red Planet. The hoped-for 3D printers are not yet capable of printing everything you need.
Of course, everything that is not produced on Mars could be bought on Earth. But in order to buy something on Earth, you need to sell something. And the only product interesting to earthlings is, perhaps, only the right to broadcast a reality show about Martian life, as is the case with Mars One. But you can hardly buy everything you need with the money received from their sale.
The Martian colonists, apparently, will not be able to become economically independent for a long time. But the economy is a guarantee of the independence of any state, be it Earth, Mars or, for example, near-earth orbit. Therefore, it will not be possible to create your own state, choose a government and issue laws for a long time. For this reason, the laws for Mars will be written on Earth. And the words "We are the people of Mars …" apparently will not become the preamble of the constitution of the United States of the Red Planet for a long time.
Sergey Sobol
