Search Here

As space flight continues to capture the imagination of people around the world thanks to films like The Martian and Gravity, Congress has agreed to take a light touch toward regulation with the commercial space industry.

Congress will essentially allow the commercial space industry to operate with little oversight for the next ten years, Wired reports. The Federal Aviation Administration will still issue licenses to allow commercial spacecraft the right to both take off and return to Earth.

Because space travel is so expensive and difficult, not to mention full of unknowns, investors are reluctant to put their money toward the endeavor if they fear they will have to deal with heavy regulation that could create pitfalls for the industry and eat into profits.

Another key aspect of the bill is that it allows companies that operate in space to keep what they may find. This essentially means that mining other planets for resources, should the technological know how present itself, is now legally allowed, according to Wired.

Numerous international treaties have said that a country cannot claim territory in space, so it is possible that the decision to allow individuals to keep what they collect in space may lead to unexplored territory, but it seems to be too early to say anything concretely.