论外空自然资源优先权

On the Priority Right to Space Natural Resources

外空自然资源商业开采即将成为现实,但实然法并未规定具体的相关规则。外空资源活动主体对其发现(探矿勘探)或获取的资源究竟享有何种权利,是待解决的焦点法律问题。2019年海牙外空资源治理国际工作组发布的《发展外空资源活动国际框架的要素》提出了外空自然资源优先权概念。从应然法角度看,确立外空自然资源优先权概念具有重要意义,但外空法不宜规定外空自然资源的优先探矿权和优先勘探权,外空自然资源优先权应包括“优先采矿权”和“对开采后资源的优先权”两个内涵,前者指在外空资源探矿勘探中作出贡献的相关主体应赋予其就特定矿区和矿种一定份额和一定期限的优先开采权,后者指外空采矿主体对开采所得外空资源占有、使用、收益和处分四种积极权能。多个国家或活动主体可能会对同一资源的开采享有不同阶段和不同程度的优先权利,需要结合具体实践考虑外空自然资源优先权的分配和实现路径,建议考虑制定份额换算、优先权转让等具体机制,根据各主体的投入和贡献程度以及国际视野下的利益均衡原则对外空资源活动的收益进行合理配置。

The commercial exploitation of space natural resources is becoming feasible,however,there's no specific and practicable international regime of space resources activities in lex lata yet.One of the to-be-settled key issues is how to confirm the right over the prospected or abstracted resources to the relevant space actors.The"Building Blocks for the Development of An International Framework on Space Resource Activities"drafted by the Hague International Space Resources Governance Working Group in 2019 provides the concept of priority right over space resources,which leads to a hot international debate.The space law in future should not adopt the concept of priority right to seek for or prospect space resources,and priority right to space resources should include two aspects:priority right to mine/recover and priority right to the abstracted resources,which taking the common heritage of mankind principle as its jurisprudential basis.In the process of designing this priority right,the specific mechanisms like share conversion,transition of priority right should be considered.There could be more than one state or space actor who have priority right to various extent and in different stages in context of the exploitation of the same resources,and the allocation of priority rights and the approaches to accomplish these rights should be considered on a case-by-case basis,according to the extent of the investment and contribution of each actor and the principle of balanced interests from the international perspective.