New space property age: at the crossroads of space commons, commodities and competition
Journal of Property, Planning and Environmental Law
ISSN: 2514-9407
Article publication date: 25 June 2021
Issue publication date: 17 August 2021
Abstract
Purpose
In the absence of a clear property rights regime in outer space, commodification might bypass several legal considerations and instill a regime through customary practice, which could collide with international space law ethics, and thus, erode the corpus juris spatialis. The purpose of this paper is to find a way to prevent such an erosion.
Design/methodology/approach
Through an interdisciplinary review of the literature pertaining to space law, space property rights, economic goods, resources and commodities, this paper explores potential solutions to prevent further fragmentation of the corpus juris spatialis when confronted with the elusive transnational lex mercatoria dynamics and potential commodification of the space ecosystem.
Findings
This paper explores solutions to prevent this outcome through decentralized frameworks ranging from polycentric governance to a new “space antitrust” regime. Polycentric governance could prove very useful to address the plurality of space property rights and their complexity while space antitrust would not be precluded to intervene in a commoditized space market. Commodities benefited in the past from a certain antitrust immunity, however, due to globalization, technological development and deregulation, commodities have become more competitive, and therefore, the immunity is being gradually overturned.
Originality/value
This paper explores the benefits of unlocking antitrust potential forces into channeling, hand in hand with polycentricity, the development of the space ecosystem in light of international space law ethics. “Space antitrust” could become a discipline per se and better resonate with non-traditional stakeholders in the space sector in a context of commercialization and commodification of resources. Today, benefit-sharing causes debate among spacefaring nations in terms of property rights. However, it could be enforced through competition law dynamics.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The corresponding author would like to thank former colleague Lucas Mallowan from the Chaire SIRIUS for his valuable editing input.
Funding. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Declaration of competing interest. The author declares that she has no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this article.
Citation
Lucas Rhimbassen, M. and Rapp, L. (2021), "New space property age: at the crossroads of space commons, commodities and competition", Journal of Property, Planning and Environmental Law, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 88-106. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPPEL-02-2021-0007
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited