Neue chinesische Pläne zur Wasserförderung auf dem Mond zeigen, warum jetzt die Zeit für ein internationales Mondrecht gekommen ist.

Water is extremely heavy and thus expensive to transport. Thus it is vastly better to make locally, on the moon. Imagine sending water resupply mission every few weeks to a small base. A giant rocket with just water, nothing else. Falcon heavy can take… what, 20 something tons? That’s 20 something cubic meters of water. A single small swimming pool. For $90 million. And that’s the cheap option.

The article has nothing to do with moon law, or about mining for water on the moon. The article is about Chinese scientists looking at ways of synthesizing water with hydrogen and oxygen on the moon.

Also, if it were NASA doing it, I don’t think we’d hear alarmist concerns for a need for international law on the matter.

China wouldn’t listen to any laws if they exist, see south china sea, currency manipulation in wto, etc.

I bet the moon will eventually be managed like the old west with people “staking a claim”, and claims only valid if the land is homesteaded or something similar.

Personnel override automated claims. That way no one can just land a 10km net and claim a whole mountain. You have to land people there to have your claim formally recognized by…. The UN?

I don’t really know, but I agree we need some kind of framework.