Private property rights on asteroid resources: Assessing the legality of the ASTEROIDS Act

On June 10, 2014, a bill proposing to establish and protect (private) property rights on asteroid resources was introduced in the US House of Representatives.Regardless of its effective chances to become law, the presentation of the Bill raises numerous legal questions, particularly concerning the status of extraterrestrial natural resources and the consistency of what the Bill suggests with international space law.The purpose of the present viewpoint is to address and clarify the above questions.