Joshua Fitzmaurice* and Stacey Henderson** ON THE LEGALITY OF MARS COLONISATION ‘Humanity will not remain on the earth forever, but in pursuit of light and space it will at first timidly penetrate beyond the limits of the atmosphere, and then conquer all the space around the sun.’1 ABSTRACT Recent technological advancements made by governmental agencies and private industry have raised hopes for the future of human space flight beyond the Moon. These advancements are increasing the feasibil- ity of endeavours to establish a permanent human habitat on Mars, as a safeguard for our species, for scientific endeavours, and for commercial purposes. This article analyses some of the legal issues associated with Mars colonisation, focusing on the lawfulness of such a venture and the legal status of colonists. I INTRODUCTION ecent technological advancements made by governmental agencies and private industry have raised hopes for the future of human space flight beyond Rthe Moon. The United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (‘NASA’) is developing a new generation of launch and crew systems that will enable * Surveillance of Space Capability Officer, Royal Australian Air Force; MSc (Physics, Space Operations) RMC Canada. Email:
[email protected]. The views expressed in this article are personal views and should not be interpreted as an official position. ** Lecturer, Adelaide Law School, The University of Adelaide; PhD (Adel). Email:
[email protected]. 1 Letter from Konstantin Tsiolkovsky to Boris Vorobiev, 12 August 1911. See, eg, Rex Hall and David Shayler, The Rocket Men: Vostok & Voskhod: The First Soviet Manned Space-flights (Springer, 2001).