One Small Click for Man: How Starlink’s Terms of Service Accidentally Taught Me About Space Law
When I finally got around to reading Section 10 of Starlink’s Terms of Service – as one does on a wild Friday night – I discovered something both hilarious and thought-provoking: the governing law for disputes on Earth and the Moon is Texas law, while Mars is considered “a free planet” with its own self-governing principles.
Texas Law: Now With Extra-Orbital Reach
According to Section 10 of the Starlink Terms of Service: “For Services provided to, on, or in orbit around the planet Earth or the Moon, this Agreement and any disputes between us arising out of or related to this Agreement, including disputes regarding arbitrability (‘Disputes’) will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas in the United States.”
That’s right, folks – Texas has apparently annexed the Moon. Forget the Outer Space Treaty of 1967; the Lone Star State has staked its claim on lunar territory. I’m now imagining a future where astronauts must wear cowboy hats and speak with a drawl while conducting experiments on the lunar surface.
Legal Implications of Lunar Texan Jurisdiction
As a casual legal enthusiast (read: someone who has watched every episode of Law & Order), I find this territorial expansion fascinating. While international law, specifically the Outer Space Treaty, establishes that no nation can claim sovereignty over celestial bodies, private companies are apparently filling the void with their terms of service.
This raises intriguing questions about the intersection of corporate contracts and space law. If I’m using Starlink on the Moon and get into a dispute, would I need to find a Texas-licensed attorney with expertise in lunar matters? Would lunar deposition transcripts begin with “Houston, we have a problem with the plaintiff’s discovery requests“?
The Martian Exception: A Free Planet
Even more fascinating is the Mars clause: “For Services provided on Mars, or in transit to Mars via Starship or other spacecraft, the parties recognize Mars as a free planet and that no Earth-based government has authority or sovereignty over Martian activities. Accordingly, Disputes will be settled through self-governing principles, established in good faith, at the time of Martian settlement.”
So while the Moon gets Texas law, Mars gets to be the libertarian paradise of the solar system. I appreciate Starlink’s forward-thinking approach to interplanetary legal frameworks, though I wonder if they consulted with any Martians on this arrangement.
Practical Considerations for the Lunar Litigant
If you’re planning a Moon vacation and expect to use Starlink while there, you should probably brush up on Texas civil procedure. Will lunar small claims court have special accommodations for the 1/6th gravity? Will the statute of limitations be adjusted for the time dilation effects of space travel?
And let’s not forget about lunar real estate disputes. If I set up my Starlink dish on what I believe to be my lunar property, but my neighbor disagrees, will Texas adverse possession laws apply? Does lunar dust count as an attractive nuisance?
Conclusion: One Small Step for Law
While Starlink’s terms of service may seem like legal humor to some, they actually represent an important first step in addressing the complex legal questions that will inevitably arise as humanity expands beyond Earth. The fact that private companies are already considering these issues demonstrates how rapidly our species is moving toward becoming multi-planetary.
So the next time you’re setting up your Starlink dish, take a moment to appreciate that you’re not just connecting to the internet – you’re participating in the development of extraterrestrial jurisprudence. And remember, in space, no one can hear you object to jurisdiction.
Robert Nogacki – licensed legal counsel (radca prawny, WA-9026), Founder of Kancelaria Prawna Skarbiec.
There are lawyers who practice law. And there are those who deal with problems for which the law has no ready answer. For over twenty years, Kancelaria Skarbiec has worked at the intersection of tax law, corporate structures, and the deeply human reluctance to give the state more than the state is owed. We advise entrepreneurs from over a dozen countries – from those on the Forbes list to those whose bank account was just seized by the tax authority and who do not know what to do tomorrow morning.
One of the most frequently cited experts on tax law in Polish media – he writes for Rzeczpospolita, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, and Parkiet not because it looks good on a résumé, but because certain things cannot be explained in a court filing and someone needs to say them out loud. Author of AI Decoding Satoshi Nakamoto: Artificial Intelligence on the Trail of Bitcoin’s Creator. Co-author of the award-winning book Bezpieczeństwo współczesnej firmy (Security of a Modern Company).
Kancelaria Skarbiec holds top positions in the tax law firm rankings of Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. Four-time winner of the European Medal, recipient of the title International Tax Planning Law Firm of the Year in Poland.
He specializes in tax disputes with fiscal authorities, international tax planning, crypto-asset regulation, and asset protection. Since 2006, he has led the WGI case – one of the longest-running criminal proceedings in the history of the Polish financial market – because there are things you do not leave half-done, even if they take two decades. He believes the law is too serious to be treated only seriously – and that the best legal advice is the kind that ensures the client never has to stand before a court.
