Taxation in outer space

• Department of Law

This event is organised by the International Economic Law and Policy Working Group and the International Law Working Group and features a discussion by Damien Macedo (University of Cambridge).

We are witnessing rapid growth in commercial space activity, from tourist space flights to global satellite Internet to advances in the field of asteroid mining. Yet, the governing legal instruments that address space remain the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 and its subsequent companion treaties from later that decade and early in the 1970s. These agreements pertain to State actors in space, not imagining a time when private industry would propel off-planet advancements. We have also been applying analogous laws, such as the law of the sea, and assuming these are appropriate for the context of space.

Using the lens of taxation, the speaker argues that we need an updated space law regime to adequately address burgeoning issues pertaining to commercial activity in space. These include economic regulation and moderation (such as with asteroid mining and rental income generated aboard private space stations), environmental protection (such as in managing space debris to ensure the safety of future launches and protecting vulnerable environments on celestial bodies), and property rights (such as ownership of space resources and the appropriation of areas of celestial bodies for exclusive use).