Astronomy
Customary International Law and Space Resource Extraction
Quick fact
Even though the Outer Space Treaty forbids national appropriation of celestial bodies, the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of 2015 asserts that U.S. citizens can own resources they extract from space, a claim supported by emerging customary practice.
Why this is interesting
As companies plan to mine the Moon, a 1967 treaty is being reinterpreted. But can a nation really claim a piece of an asteroid?