Artemis Accords / OST Resource Regime
concept
Nobody's allowed to own the Moon — so the rules are being quietly rewritten to let companies mine it anyway.
Who they are
The Artemis Accords and the older Outer Space Treaty framework — the legal rules for who can use space resources.
What they do
The engine tracks how the old ban on claiming territory in space is being worked around to permit resource extraction.
How it works
The 1967 Outer Space Treaty bars nations from claiming space and holds them responsible for their companies; a 2015 US law declared that mining isn't the same as 'claiming'; the 2020 Artemis Accords then wrote in extraction rights and 'safety zones' that critics read as territory-grabbing in disguise — while China and Russia run a separate rival program.
Why it matters
The engine treats this as a legal maneuver judged by what it does, not the intent behind it, and deliberately names no single power in charge.
The engine's record — word for word
[Report #107 — 2026 Space Race] The 1967 Outer Space Treaty bars national appropriation (Art II) and holds states liable for corporate acts (Art VI); the 1979 Moon Treaty designates lunar resources 'common heritage of mankind.' The 2015 US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act asserts resource extraction is not appropriation; the 2020 Artemis Accords codify extraction rights and 'safety zones' that opponents read as de-facto territorial enclosure. The ILRS operates under a separate Sino-Russian umbrella. Structural legal maneuver; function over intent; apex held; manifestation arm b.
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