Guest: Wayne White; Topics: Space Law, the OST, property rights, salvage and mining law, Space Pioneer Act, NASA iTech Competition & more. Please direct all comments and questions regarding specific Space Show programs & guest(s) to the Space Show blog which is part of archived program on our website, www.thespaceshow.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm.
We welcomed noted space attorney Wayne White back to the program to discuss space law, property rights under the Outer Space Treaty (OST), deep space mining, the Space Pioneer Act and much more. Our 90 minute program was in one segment, no break. Wayne started our discussion by commenting on space technology and the changing space industry. We then went into the space law discussion which centered on the parts of his Space Pioneer Act which addresses issues dealing with space property rights, mining, and salvage law. By the way, you can read Wayne's Space Pioneer Act and all his published papers and Power Points by visiting his academic website, https://independent.academia.edu/WhiteWayne. Wayne also has www.spacebooster.com. I strongly suggest you review his property rights and Space Pioneer Act papers and Power Point presentation.
We spent a good amount of time talking about the OST and property rights. Wayne explained territorial sovereignty property rights which are not allowed under the OST along with jurisdictional property rights for private companies and citizens which are likely allowed under the OST. This is an important discussion so don't miss it.
In addition, Wayne talked about Article 9 of the OST and the right to be free of interference. Also mentioned were safety zones, plus I asked about jurisdiction being US only or would these issues be based on international law. If the latter, how would international law be enforced. Wayne's Space Pioneer Act was discussed and as you will hear, it addresses space property rights, mining, and salvage law. He references the Homestead Act and even visualized a new type of Homestead Act for space development.
Wayne spent time going over the history and the background of the making of the OST and its eventual signing. This is most interesting so don't miss what he had to say about it, the US positions, and those of the USSR. Listeners had several email questions for Wayne about the OST, withdrawing from it, the types of property rights he was discussing and more.
Salvage law issues came up, especially with the Liability Treaty and registry ownership. Wayne had much to say about the possibilities for space salvage law, space debris cleanup and more. The launch state "perpetual liability" was discussed and explained in detail.
Later in the program, we switched to talking about the NASA iTech Competition. You can find out more about it and the winners by going to https://nasaitech.com. Wayne mentioned a special video on an innovative idea which you can see here and on the URL below. In addition, we both talked about the NASA Innovations Panel at the recent 33rd Space Foundation Symposium. You can see the entire panel discussion at www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZroUiU6q7Q. Please note that this panel discussion video is also embedded in the NASAiTech website above. Just scroll down and you will find it. Wayne introduced us to the NASAiTech program because his company project for an "Interplanetary Spacecraft" has placed in the semi-finals and he will find out if his concept has been selected around June 10. He will let me know and I will announce the results on a future Space Show program.
Several additional topics came up before we ended our program. One was his mention of Australia creating a new space agency. Wayne then talked about the advantages of 3D printing for space development along with robotic and AI space development. I asked Wayne if he though space infrastructure should be part of any federal government infrastructure legislation. Wayne mentioned some needed infrastructure projects including fuel depots and cislunar development but said it was hard and very challenging for government to try to pick winners in any industry.
Please post your comments/questions for Wayne White on The Space Show blog. You can reach Wayne through me or his website URLs above.
The Space Show
