Mars Treatymaking Results from ISU SSP 2017

摘要

In light of the expanding robotic and the impending crewed exploration and settlement of Mars, participants at the International Space University's 2017 Space Studies Program (SSP) held in Cork, Ireland, will simulate governmental delegations at the United Nations to create a draft text representing a new international treaty for Mars. This is the fifth year the ISU SSP has conducted this Mars Treatymaking Workshop, done in conjunction with the SSP's Space Policy, Economics, and Law department. Participants historically have been able to more fully understand the tensions in international space policy when they must adopt them as their own. Set in 2027, this workshop features some nations with ambitious plans for Mars colonization, while others intend to commercially mine the red planet's rich mineral resources. The majority of delegations to the UN, however, hold fast to the provisions of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, whose Article II mandates that "outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation. or by any other means." Can these tensions be resolved in a single treaty for Mars? This paper will present the findings of the ISU SSP participants, including their impressions and lessons learned from the simulation of an international, intergovernmental negotiation and related workshop experiences.