[meteorite-list] Ownership of Space-X Debris Question

[Alfredo Petrov]

In maritime law, if a private (non-military) vessel was insured, then the
insurance company can claim any wreckage. I don't know whether any court
will extrapolate that to space wreckage.

On Sun, 4 Apr 2021 at 11:57, Keith D Lemons via Meteorite-list <
meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com> wrote:

> MikeG raises a good question about ownership of the Space-X debris found
> on the farm.  As you all are familiar, the general rule is that the land
> owner owns a meteorite find thereupon per the Forest City Meteorite case
> (Iowa, 1890) and that government or government controlled entities such as
> NASA always retain ownership no matter where the debris lands.
>
> Barring any specific statute or regulation that I am unaware of, I would
> make an educated guess that if the Space-X mission was private, the
> landowner owns the fall; however, if the Space-X mission was performed or
> funded pursuant to a government contract, then the government retains
> ownership of the debris as the mission would be governmental, but executed
> by a contractor, i.e., Space-X.
>
> The government’s involvement, or lack thereof, in the mission would be the
> determining factor.
>
>  In practical terms, if the FBI shows up at your door,  I would hand it
> over under protest, but not resistance; if Elon Musk or his minions show
> up, the price of your piece just went way up.
>
> Before buying or selling a piece, it would behoove you to do some due
> diligence on determination of the mission and under whose funding or
> control it was carried out.
>
>  The fact (if that is the case) that neither the government nor Space-X
> descended upon the debris field to recover the pieces is immaterial if it
> happens to be a government mission - the government never loses its
> ownership in anything, its interests must be granted by conveyance,
> regulation (e.g., public land meteorite finds) or by operation of law (the
> last less common than confirming Venusian meteorites).
>
> Final thought, Mr. Musk is a cagey fellow and rarely misses a trick.  It
> is entirely possible he has wrangled the institution of some governmental
> regulation that grants Space-X permanent ownership & the right of
> possession of any and all materials, space ship or otherwise, that he
> launches towards the heavens.  (Probably would be found in Federal
> Register.)
>
>  Legal research is in order, which is much cheaper than defending a
> lawsuit or criminal charges later.
> And, yes, I know lawyers are killjoys.
>
> Keith Lemons
> J.D., 1978, Baylor [Sic’em, Bears!] University
>
> Sent from my iPhone
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