On
November 25, President Obama signed into law the Space
Resource and Utilization Act of 2015. The Act recognizes property rights of
US citizens on asteroid resources they have extracted. The Act has been
received by both enthusiasm
and scepticism
regarding its effect on international space law. However, a brief analysis of
the situation from a technological, legal and US-domestic perspective reveals
that importance of the Act lies mainly in the domestic US politics and economy.