WSU Honors students Brittany Wojciechowski, Lucas Webb, Aubrey Koonce, and Molly Williams
recently published their article, "The Need for Strict Regulation of Asteroid Mining", in
the European Space Policy Institute's Voices from the Space Community series. Their article is an outgrowth of research they conducted while enrolled
in an Honors Seminar on Philosophy of Space Exploration, taught by Philosophy Faculty
James Schwartz in the summer of 2018.
Here is the abstract of the paper:
"We argue that while asteroid mining should be pursued, it should come with strict
restrictions so as not to allow monopolies or depletion of asteroidal resources. We
propose an international regulatory framework between countries wishing to participate
in mining, an asteroid land rental fee, a rental time limit, and a space "customs"
which inventories materials brought back to Earth. We agree with the UN that there
should be special attention given to countries that lack space technology, and that
arrangements should be made that will benefit them, such as aiding in funding their
space programs or sharing the resources brought back from space. This paper produces
a rough framework of a possible policy that should be considered as more formal asteroid
mining policies take shape."
