Last week at the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego, California, President Trump told Marines, “Very soon, we’re going to Mars. You wouldn’t be going to Mars if my opponent won, that I can tell you. You wouldn’t even be thinking about it.” This statement is a reiteration of plans the president announced last year to establish a branch of the U.S. military that only prepares for war in space. But Trump is not the only one to recently express space-faring ambitions. At SXSW, Elon Musk restated his plans to establish a “permanent base on the moon and city on Mars.” But legally speaking, colonizing space is not that easy. The foundational piece of space legislation, according to The Outline, is the Outer Space Treaty, which was ratified by the U.S., U.S.S.R., and many other nations in 1967. This treaty states that nations are not allowed to place “nuclear weapons” or “weapons of mass destruction in space.” Any celestial body must be used exclusively for “peaceful purposes,” which might put a damper on Trump’s plans for his “Space Force.” The treaty also states that noting in space can become a national territory, which is an issue for Musk’s plans as well. Any base or settlement on Mars would have to be free to use by anyone else who can travel there.
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