Space exploration is still an incomprehensible and complicated topic for humanity, despite all the progress, since people know little about it. For this reason, governments and companies develop new technologies to explore space and other planets and create autonomous robots for this purpose. However, despite the insignificant presence of people in space, every action out of Earth is governed by international law rules, including autonomous space exploration.
The main regulations to be used for autonomous space exploration and planetary exploration are UN-controlled and international. The first law is the Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects, which controls space and Earth pollution due to people’s activities (Harris). The robot that Bill Stone is developing is a space object that requires a lot of fuel and can leave space debris (AsleepWithDragons). The convention prohibits and controls pollution, as, in space, even minor debris can cause severe damage to satellites. In addition, the tests of the robot will take place on Earth, and scientists need to make sure that they will not harm the environment. Another law is the 1976 Convention on the Registration of Objects Launched Into Outer Space, which requires countries to register objects (Harris). Any private or public project is carefully checked and registered at the national level, since the state is responsible for its citizens.
These laws can and should be improved. For example, if people find resources, conflicts may arise over their development, since not all nations will voluntarily give up profits. In addition, rockets use a tremendous amount of fuel, which is burned in the atmosphere and space, so regulations on the protection of space and Earth from pollution must be carefully worked out. Thus, with the development of space technologies, laws will be changed to regulate different nations’ actions in space and their harmful effects.
Works Cited
“Exploring Europa.” YouTube, uploaded by AsleepWithDragons, 2009, Web.
Harris, Philip R. ” Space Law and Space Resources.” National Space Society, Web.