Planetary Resources Inc., Property Rights, and the Regulation of the Space Economy

By: Matthew C. Weinzierl and Angela Acocella

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Synopsis: Planetary Resources, Inc. (PRI) had a bold, some said crazy, vision: to mine asteroids. One might have assumed that developing the right technology would be the greatest challenge facing PRI. But even if the fledgling company could develop and deploy the sophisticated imaging, prospecting, and communication capabilities required for mining asteroids, two additional obstacles meant success was not guaranteed. First, uncertainty remained over whether, and how, property rights to resources mined in space would be enforced. PRI's leadership's challenge was to anticipate, and perhaps shape, how this uncertainty would be resolved. Making that balancing act more difficult was a second factor: a complex and underfunded U.S. regulatory infrastructure that threatened to slow PRI's progress and escalate costs.