| The future of space exploration endeavors depends highly on the utilization of in-situ resources. Large scale exploration road maps take advantage of local resources to reduce mission costs and enable the growth of revolutionary self-sufficient technologies to prolong mission duration and reach beyond current destinations. The major space treaties included limited provisions on space resource utilization in terms of excavation and consumption. A natural resource can be extracted from its place of origin with limited restriction on the quantity and method of use.;To address the risk of ecological damage, resource appropriation, and impending disputes, claims, and decrees regarding resource utilization, a comprehensive analysis is performed on the legal doctrines governing activities in outer space, the environmental protocol of Antarctica, the principles of the high seas, and a case study on resource appropriation. An analysis of the aforementioned doctrines concludes: 1) the need to provide an international authority with the power to act when claims and disputes of international cooperation and consultations fail and 2) the need to establish a protocol on environmental protection to the Outer Space Treaty to ensure peaceful and orderly development of our celestial bodies during scientific and commercial activities involving resource utilization. |
