What does short-term space settlement of the moon look like? Primarily the issue is about resources that would support settlement. Is the real race about who will get to the resources first and how their rights will be safeguarded? Who will get to the water ice to have access to oxygen for breathing and hydrogen for fuel? Who would have the rights to the metallic asteroid “Pschye” to begin in situ construction? Lessons learned from claims on earth to Antarctica/the Arctic and the South China Sea give us cause for concern. Environmental protection has been used as a shield to stymie some of these claims, but how strong are these in the face of commercialization from both private actors and state-backed enterprises? This talk will provide considerations as to the building blocks for the Space Governance System in this new space 4.0 era.

Event Date: 12 / 10 / 2020