Russia鈥檚 space agency Roscosmos has condemned US President Donald Trump鈥檚 , which encourages citizens to mine the moon and other celestial bodies with commercial purposes.
The government body likened the policy to colonialism and said it 鈥渉ardly sets the countries to fruitful cooperation.鈥�
鈥淭here have already been examples in history when one country decided to start seizing territories in its interest 鈥� everyone remembers what came of it,鈥� Roscosmos鈥� deputy general director for international cooperation, Sergey Saveliev, .
Trump鈥檚 order classifies outer space as a 鈥渓egally and physically unique domain of human activity鈥� instead of a 鈥済lobal commons,鈥澛爌aving the way for mining the moon without any sort of international treaty.
Executive order signed this week seems to prove that Trump does not feel bound by international treaties on space exploration and resource extraction
鈥淎mericans should have the right to engage in commercial exploration, recovery, and use of resources in outer space,鈥� the document states, noting that the US had never signed a 1979 accord known as the Moon Treaty. This agreement stipulates that any activities in space should conform to international law.
This is not the first time the US is addressing space mining by issuing an order. In 2015, the US Congress passed a bill explicitly allowing companies and citizens to mine, sell and own any space material.
That piece of legislation included a very important clause, stating that it did not grant 鈥渟overeignty or sovereign or exclusive rights or jurisdiction over, or the ownership of, any celestial body.鈥�
The section ratified the聽, signed in 1966 by the US, Russia, and a number of other countries, which states that nations can鈥檛 own territory in space.
Trump has taken a consistent interest in asserting American power beyond Earth, last year to conduct space warfare where needed.
The country鈥檚 space agency NASA had previously , which includes setting up a 鈥渂ase camp鈥� on the moon鈥檚 south pole.聽
Trillion-dollar market
The US isn鈥檛 the first nor the only nation to jump on board the lunar mining train.
Russia has been pursuing plans in recent years to return to the moon, potentially travelling further into outer space.
搁辞蝉肠辞蝉尘辞蝉听 plans to establish a long-term base on the moon over the next two decades, while President Vladimir Putin has聽聽to launch a mission to Mars 鈥渧ery soon.鈥�
尝耻虫别尘产辞耻谤驳,听聽to set its eyes on the possibility of mining celestial bodies, to boost exploration and commercial utilization of resources from Near Earth Objects.
Unlike NASA, LSA does not carry out research or launches. Its purpose is to accelerate collaborations between economic project leaders of the space sector, investors and other partners.
Thanks to the emerging European network, scientists announced last year plans to begin extracting resources from the moon聽as early as 2025.
The mission, in charge of the European Space Agency in partnership with ArianeGroup, plans to extract waste-free nuclear energy thought to be worth trillions of dollars.
Both China and India have also floated ideas about extracting Helium-3 from the Earth鈥檚 natural satellite. Beijing has already landed on the moon twice in the 21st聽century, with more missions to follow.
In Canada, most initiatives have come from the private sector. One of the most touted was Northern Ontario-based聽Deltion Innovations partnership with Moon Express, the first American private space exploration firm to have been聽聽to travel beyond Earth鈥檚 orbit.
Space ventures in the works include聽, track space debris, build the聽, and billionaire Elon Musk鈥檚 own plan for an unmanned mission to the red planet.
Geologists as well as emerging companies, such as聽, a firm pioneering the space mining industry, believe asteroids are packed with iron ore, nickel and precious metals at much higher concentrations than those found on Earth, making up a market valued聽s.