Preparing For The Next Space Race

This paper discusses the ambitions of the commercial space industry to build habitats in order to colonize space. It also discusses why space colonization is important to humanity. It then turns to the current international law framework to study if space colonization is legal. Next it looks at what legislation and policy the United States should pursue to successfully allow for colonization. It makes specific recommendations regarding both a civil and criminal law framework to ensure that there is adequate governance of initial colonies in space, without hindering future development.