‘Bringing a Piece of Moon to Your Honey’ : The Legal Challenges Relating to Mining of the Lunar Resources

Humankind has made significant progress with regard to understanding the outer space and how it can be beneficial for the entire species. With the rapid increase of private players across the world, it is essential that the international space law community designs apt instruments to address the challenges that we may have to confront in the future. The Outer Space Treaty has played an extremely crucial role in ensuring that outer space is used for the benefit of humankind, but one area which still lacks a strong framework relates to the Moon. The Moon Agreement has still not been signed by some of the most significant space-faring nations, making it one of the few international tools which have ‘failed’ this spectacularly. The aim of this research paper is to throw light on the history behind the Moon Agreement and discuss the controversial provisions which discouraged several powerful countries from signing this international instrument. Section 1 of this Essay explores the relevant provisions contained in the Outer Space Treaty and the Moon Agreement, while Section 2 considers the analogous provisions stipulated in the Law of the Sea Convention and the Antarctic Treaty. The final section provides concluding remarks and suggestions