Educator notes companies are making asteroid mining a commercial reality
A research paper by Dr Anna Marie Brennan, a senior lecturer in the University of Waikato’s Te Piringa Faculty of Law, cautioned that asteroid mining – which could impact global supply chains, reduce prices, and redistribute economic power – might outpace international law.
In the university’s news release, she explained that private companies like AstroForge and Karman were in the process of developing the technology for extracting rare metals from outer space, thereby transforming asteroid mining into a commercial reality.
“These materials are currently used in smartphones, electric vehicles, batteries and clean energy technology,” Brennan said in the news release. “If companies gain legal access to mine and sell them, it could significantly affect global supply chains, prices and determine who profits.”
Brennan’s research pointed out that the laws applying to space – specifically, the 1967 Outer Space Treaty – did not extensively address the relevant environmental protection and resource management matters.
“The Outer Space Treaty says space should benefit all humankind, but it provides little detail about how to manage environmental damage or prevent conflict over resources,” she said.
Brennan emphasised that new laws to manage environmental risks and conflicts arising from asteroid mining should identify who would be responsible for accidents, how to share the mining benefits, and whether human rights and labour safeguards would apply in space.
“We need coordinated international rules now – before large-scale mining begins – to ensure space development is sustainable and benefits humanity as a whole,” she said.
Specifically, Brennan suggested:
She stressed that Earth’s history – including its environmental and governance failures – could repeat itself without enhanced rules for asteroid mining.
“Mining missions could create space debris that disrupts satellites and GPS, interferes with astronomy, or damages sites of scientific and cultural value,” Brennan said in the university’s news release.
Acta Astronautica, an aerospace engineering journal, published her paper titled “Regulating the environmental impact of asteroid mining: Toward an independent international monitoring mechanism.”
According to her biography on the university’s website, Brennan serves as postgraduate research lead in the School of Law, Politics, and Philosophy. Within Te Piringa Faculty of Law, she was research convenor from 2019–23 and acting dean in 2023.
She has served as the AI and Space Law Society’s New Zealand chair. She has also belonged to the International Institute of Space Law’s Working Group on the Future of the Moon Agreement and the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law’s Committee of the International Peace and Security Interest Group.
Per her university bio, Brennan’s research has encompassed international criminal law, international humanitarian law, and outer space law.
