Geekosystem's Sci-Fi Scenarios Aren't as Far-Fetched as You Think

"Who owns the moon?" is the second most common question I get when I tell people I studied space law. "Space law: that's a thing?" is the first.

(No one, and yes.)

The electronic magazine Geekosystem ran a great article today about space law, a primer on the subject for your average non-lawyer. It's a great introduction for people who have never heard of space law, or who are wondering just what law there is in space. The interview portion also includes two extremely knowledgeable people I've had the pleasure of working with, Elsbeth Magilton and Frans von der Dunk. And I'm not just saying that because one of them quoted me. (I have never met the third interviewee, Julie McMahon, but, since she has the good sense to be a space law buff, I assume good things about her as well.)

Geekosystem, of course, got to the good stuff quickly. Star Wars. Gravity. Avatar. How do these movies stack up with space law? These are things that people really care about. I've written before about how science fiction says a lot about our culture, and literature can offer us important insights into our society.

But science fiction is just that: fiction. Star Wars and Avatar are unrealistic. (Gravity, although it gets a lot wrong on the science, highlights some real issues.) Questions like "Who is responsible for the space junk left over from blowing up the Death Star?" and "Can the Resources Development Administration be held responsible for damaging the Tree of Souls?" are fun, but fantastical. Right?

Wrong. They aren't as far-fetched as you think.

Geekosystem has tapped into a brilliant formula here, taking the fictional universes we love and using them to explore real-world issues. A person who read the Geekosystem piece would find him or herself in a great position to analyze current and upcoming issues.


The Death Star. If debris from the Death Star damages a ship or falls on a settlement, who is responsible? Elsbeth notes,

The Rebellion, void of sovereignty, is not a state but a political organization governed under the Empire. The Empire carries the obligations under the treaty. Thus is seems, that the liability falls on the Empire – the problem being the Empire no longer exists.

 She goes on to mention my contention that the Second Republic (which is the government the Rebellion forms in the expanded universe after defeating the Empire) might assume the Empire's treaty obligations, in which case they would be liable under the Outer Space Treaty for the Empire's prior space objects.

How is this relevant to a galaxy right here, right now? Simple: this happens all the time. Wikipedia lists at least six instances of a government being overthrown since 2010. None of them are spacefaring nations, but as more and more countries send objects to space, a rebellion or coup in a spacefaring nation seems very possible.

And consider the state of affairs after Episode IV: A New Hope. The Rebellion is in full swing, but the Empire is still in power. The airspace above Yavin IV, however, is littered with the remains of the Death Star. Rebels destroyed a government space asset. This is an easily conceivable scenario, as many countries with space programs have internal conflict, including Iran, India, Pakistan, and Russia. A rebel group could seize a telemetry station and misuse or destroy a space asset, and the state would be on the hook.

The Tree of Souls. Can the private mining corporation be held responsible under space law for its actions on Pandora? Frans suggests,

 (a) [S]ue the private operator in one court or the other, raising all sorts of jurisdictional and forum questions in an international environment such as outer space, or (b) address the state whose national the private operator is, as that state is internationally responsible under Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty also for space activities conducted by its nationals.

Pandora? Space mining? You see where this is going. Deep Space Industries, a private enterprise, has announced their intention to "lasso" and mine asteroids in the near future. While it's unlikely that any tall, blue people are hiding out on asteroids in our solar system, the issues suggested by Geekosystem's questions are very real.

What happens if a mining operation does something reckless on an asteroid? Worse, what happens if the mining operation, or someone in their employ, commits a crime? Who can exert jurisdiction to prosecute the offender? (An old case called Lotus suggests that the answer is fairly broad, but there is no hard law on the issue.) Deep Space intends the mining operation to be robotic, but the ultimate goal is to put habitable structures in space. If a U.S. national kills a Russian national on a space station, can Russia seek redress from the U.S.?


This is obviously not a full treatment of current space law questions. But Geekosystem's interview with Elsbeth, Frans, and Julie is deceptively informative. Once again, science fiction (we might even call them science fantasy) movies shed light on important issues. I applaud their effort to bring law and film lovers together. We lawyers have a lot to learn from film, and we can use it to engage important issues.