Reimagining Sustainable Space Mining with Due Diligence

Abstract 

Terrestrial mining plays a critical role in the green energy transition by supplying essential metals and minerals for infrastructure and technologies such as batteries, wind turbines, and solar panels. However, current and planned mines are insufficient to meet the global demand, reliance on a few select regions to supply the world with these products carry risks, and harmful environmental, social, and governance impacts of terrestrial mining persist (IEA, 2021; RMF, 2021).  

In this context, alternatives to terrestrial mining are gaining prominence, notably deep seabed mining, which might commence in areas beyond national jurisdiction as early as 2026. Yet, the regulatory framework for sustainable management of deep seabed mining remains incomplete, with significant gaps in understanding its impact on biodiversity and ecosystems (IUCN, 2024).  

Another emerging alternative is outer space mining, which is still in its nascent stages of technical feasibility. Mining this new frontier promises substantial advancements in space exploration, and, eventually, the supply of critical metals and minerals crucial for achieving and maintaining net-zero emissions.

Since 2015, four countries – the United States (US), Luxembourg, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Japan – enacted legislations that allow companies to explore, extract, use, and own space resources, laying the grounds for a space mining industry to flourish. Moreover, forty countries committed to cooperating for “a new era for space exploration and utilisation”, including space mining, through the Artemis Accords signed in 2020.

These developments indicate the emergence of a fragmented regulatory approach to space mining activities, lacking guarantees of an international minimum standard of conduct. Such fragmentation risks jeopardising the long-term sustainability objectives for outer space, as actors with expertise might exploit the pluralist context to benefit from legal entitlements and shape specialised regulatory regimes. This working paper argues for early international regulatory intervention to promote the sustainability of space mining activities. Specifically, we advocate for adopting a due diligence standard of conduct, outlining policy options that encompass both institutional and non-institutional solutions.

About the authors

Dr Aylin Yildiz Noorda is a postdoctoral researcher at the Lisbon Public Law Research Centre, University of Lisbon, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). She is also a non-resident research fellow at the WTI and a member of the Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR) of the University of Bern (email: aylin.yildiz@wti.org).

Dr Ksenia Polonskaya is an assistant professor at the Department of Law and Legal Studies, Carleton University, Ontario, Canada (email: kseniapolonskaya@cunet.carleton.ca).

Dr Merve Erdem Burger is a postdoctoral researcher at the Chair of Public International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Neuchâtel, funded by the SNSF (email: merve.erdem@unine.ch).