黑洞社区 Honors students Brittany Wojciechowski, Lucas Webb, Aubrey Koonce, and Molly Williams recently published their article, "The Need for Strict Regulation of Asteroid Mining", in the European Space Policy Institute's Voices from the Space Community series. Their article is an outgrowth of research they conducted while enrolled in an Honors Seminar on Philosophy of Space Exploration, taught by Philosophy Faculty James Schwartz in the summer of 2018.
Here is the abstract of the paper:
"We argue that while asteroid mining should be pursued, it should come with strict restrictions so as not to allow monopolies or depletion of asteroidal resources. We propose an international regulatory framework between countries wishing to participate in mining, an asteroid land rental fee, a rental time limit, and a space "customs" which inventories materials brought back to Earth. We agree with the UN that there should be special attention given to countries that lack space technology, and that arrangements should be made that will benefit them, such as aiding in funding their space programs or sharing the resources brought back from space. This paper produces a rough framework of a possible policy that should be considered as more formal asteroid mining policies take shape."
A copy of the paper can be .