Description
As the private sector gears up for the Return to the Moon and beyond, there is escalating concern over the lack of formal regulation of private space activities and the deprioritisation of scientific objectives. In the absence of a coherent international framework to govern off-earth activities such as space mining, the installation of nuclear fission reactors and the geoengineering of the earth’s atmospheres, this paper analyses international criminal law as a vehicle through which to futureproof outer space against the excesses or abuses of the private space actor. With a focus upon the protection of the space and earth environments, the anticipatory crime of Ecocide is considered as a counter to space-based pollution of the earth’s atmosphere. The War Crime of environmental destruction by a business entity is considered in response to the heightened risk of conflict foreshadowed by the Trump administration’s America First securitization of space with measures such as the Golden Dome, a multi-layered defence system with offensive capabilities comprising thousands of space-based missiles girdling the Earth. In an outer space dominated by Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, the remote commission of cybercrimes amounting to Space Piracy in addition to notions of Land Piracy committed on celestial bodies are discussed and developed. The current trend towards permissionless regimes grounded in regulatory light touch is a poor preparation for serious threats posed by an outer space inhabited by a multitude of private actors ranging from the well-heeled transnational corporation to the well-oiled international criminal organisation. Enforcement mechanisms capable of holding private space actors to account are an imperative. As the only binding international mechanism that fulfils this function, this paper develops international criminal law into a bedrock upon which to build a safe and sustainable future in outer space.
