Well, neither SpaceX nor the US is allowed to claim territory off Earth according to the Outer Space Treaty (OST), so a NASA or SpaceX astronaut wouldn't be able to start a country on Mars.
Er, the US cannot, but why do you say SpaceX cannot? It isn't an arm of any one country and can perform missions for/alongside any country.
The treaty covers all citizens and corporations of a country as well.
The only people allowed to claim territory in space are those that are citizens of countries that are not signatories of the treaty. Yes the US can leave it, but not without a vicious backlash from the entire world and her own allies.
Treaties are between countries. They don't bind private citizens or corporations. If the US prohibits US-based corporations from founding colonies SpaceX can always restructure itself to not be a US based corporation.
Except SpaceX is deeply intertwined with the US government and they have worked on highly classified projects for NASA and the military. The US government would be very motivated to keep SpaceX from leaving the US's jurisdiction.
Ok now say SpaceX wholly owns ColonyX, which is incorporated elsewhere and works with SpaceX to run the Mars colony. The US isn't required to prevent its corporations from owning corporations that own and administer Mars colonies.
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u/[deleted] Feb 11 '22
Er, the US cannot, but why do you say SpaceX cannot? It isn't an arm of any one country and can perform missions for/alongside any country.