Can You Legally Leave Earth?

You bet your asteroid-mining starship you can! But it‘ll take way more than loading up your crew, punching the thrusters, and blasting off into the great unknown. Leaving our home planet – and its laws – behind ain‘t like dusting off that old copy of No Man‘s Sky. So before you set a course for the Martian Valles Marineris or book your tourism shuttle to a swanky orbital hotel, you better learn the rocket science of legally escaping Earth‘s surly bonds.

Let‘s Shoot Straight Here

I know what you‘re thinking: "Can I just build my own darn ship and fly out of here?" Look, in the movies they make it seem easy. Han Solo traipses around the galaxy in the Millennium Falcon without filing a single flight plan or showing proof of astronaut training! But here‘s the deal: the laws of modern-day space agencies are WAY stricter than Mos Eisley spaceport authority. If you want to legally leave Earth‘s atmosphere and head into orbit or deep space, here is what you have to do:

Step 1: Register Your Spacecraft

Before you can legally launch a ship built on Earth, you have to register it with a national authority. For Americans, that‘s the FAA‘s Office of Commercial Spaceflight. You submit design documents, technology specifics, operational details, and more. They‘ll poke and prod that sucker more than a Mars rover studying a cool-looking space rock. That‘s to ensure your spacecraft meets strict regulations under domestic and international space treaties. No dodgy duct-taped Eagle 5 allowed!

Step 2: Pass Inspection and Get Approved

Next, space agency engineers directly inspect your ship and tech. You have to let them test critical components like life support systems, flight computers, comms, and propulsion. Assuming you pass the tests, they‘ll sign off that your ship won‘t endanger astronauts or violate laws like keeping space peaceful. This process applies whether you‘re Elon Musk or an average Joe building a legit backyard rocketship. No exceptions!

Step 3: Obtain a Launch License

The final pre-flight legal step is getting an actual launch license. For the USA, only the FAA can license and supervise space launches from American soil or airspace. And approval is no cakewalk! You need to file detailed flight plans, contingency procedures, accident investigation plans, liability insurance policies, and more. Basically proof you‘ve crossed every "t" and dotted every "i" before leaving terra firma.

What Space Laws Must I Obey?

Once you get those launch papers stamped, you‘re still not free as Han Solo to fly wherever you want and claim sweet asteroid mining rights. Basically every nation on Earth signed the Outer Space Treaty of 1979, making space a sort of giant communal park that Earthlings share. The key laws it imposes are:

• No country can claim sovereignty over any territory in space
• All space objects must be registered to a country and follow their laws
• Weapons of mass destruction are forbidden in orbit or on celestial bodies
• Everything in space can only be used for peaceful purposes
• Astronauts are considered envoys of mankind – lend them assistance if needed

So if you‘re the first gamer to set up a Moon base, you can‘t declare independence from your homeland! But at least space is safe from orbital nuclear battles…for now.

Beyond the Outer Space Treaty, there are others dealing with issues like liability for damage, Moon/Mars governance, and space junk. So leaving Earth makes you subject to a growing body of "space law" that Dr. McCoy never trained you for!

What About Just Visiting Space Stations?

Can‘t afford to build your own starship quite yet? For the right price, you can visit an existing space habitat! From 2001-2009, seven wealthy private citizens paid around $20-25 million EACH to visit the International Space Station (ISS) via Russia‘s commercial space program.

But since NASA retired the Space Shuttles in 2011, there hasn‘t been any rides for tourists. Even NASA and ESA astronauts now hitch rides up with SpaceX and the Russian Space Agency. And none of them are selling tickets to private visitors anymore.

However, that might change soon! NASA recently announced they want to open up the ISS to more commercial activity and tourism. Both Axiom Space and Bigelow Aerospace plan to launch private orbital space stations too. And then there are rumors of a space hotel or even a casino being built sometime this decade!

So while the space tourism industry is just getting started again, your best bet might be ponying up a lot of cash to an outfit like Axiom soon if you want to experience microgravity. Of course, building your own module as an add-on is also legal as long as you follow all those launch and operation rules we just talked about!

Can We Become an Interplanetary Species?

Alright, time for some "big thinkers" speculation here. Say you don‘t just want to briefly visit space but actually HELP colonize the Moon, Mars, or artificial habitats? With Earth facing threats like climate change, asteroid strikes, and overpopulation, many experts take establishing off-world colonies seriously for the survival of our species.

The good news is nothing in space law stops nations or private groups from trying to settle the solar system! But those same treaties mean nobody can stick a flag in Mars and call it Planet Musk or anything. We‘d need some new governance models. Plus, while experiments with closed ecosystems look promising for enabling space migration, there are STILL tons of barriers:

The mental health impacts of living in isolated habitats are just as crucial too. We social primates don‘t always thrive without a tribe around us! That‘s why despite having the tech one day, it may take generations and new cultures emerging before off-world colonies feel like "home" to any humans.

Still, every gamer dreams of being on those first expeditions to build bases and reshape planets! So while it may take until the 25th century before we‘re a true multi-planet species, the next centuries will see incredible expansion into our solar system. Of course, we still have to survive and avoid blowing ourselves up on Earth first…

So in summary, can you just fly off Earth without asking NASA for permission first? Negative, Ghost Rider. But with the right legal maneuvering and cash, the spacefaring future sure looks promising. See you on Mars!