Camisha L. Simmons is a business attorney that represents parties in business transactions, restructurings and litigation. She is a frequent writer and speaker on cutting edge legal topics that impact businesses.
Her numerous presentations and commentary focused on the space sector include her talk titled “Space Settlement and Commercialization: Clarifying Private Property Rights,” presented at the National Space Society’s International Space Development Conference (ISDC) in Los Angeles, California on May 23, 2024 and her talk titled “Using the Metaverse to Settle Mars,” which she presented at ISDC in Frisco, Texas on May 27 and May 28, 2023. She is licensed to practice law in both Texas and New York.
She was selected by her peers for inclusion and recognition in The Best Lawyers in America® listing and publication. She was selected by The National Black Lawyers, a professional and educational organization comprised of an elite group of highly successful and influential African American lawyers in the U.S., for inclusion in its list of the top 100 African American attorneys in Texas, The National Black Lawyers Top 100 (2019-2024). In 2018, she was recognized as one of the Top 50 Women Lawyers in Dallas by the Texas Diversity Council. In 2013, Texas Lawyer named Camisha to its inaugural list of Legal Leaders on the Rise. The recognition honors Texas’ 25 most promising lawyers under the age of 40 whose accomplishments distinguish them from their peers. She has also been named a Texas Super Lawyer, Texas Rising Star, New York Metro Super Lawyer, and New York Metro Rising Star by Super Lawyers®, a Thomson Reuters rating service, and a Top 40 Under 40 attorney by the National Black Lawyers.
She holds a J.D., magna cum laude and an M.B.A. from Texas Tech University, an M.Ed. from the University of Maryland, College Park and a B.B.A. from Campbell University. Prior to her legal career, she served on active duty in the United States Army.
ABSTRACT:
Space Settlement and Commercialization: Clarifying Private Property Rights
Across the globe there is a revitalized race to space. Pioneers of humanity endeavor to soon make humans an interplanetary species. They aim to establish human settlements in outer space. They have their sights on the Moon and Mars.
Before humans settle in space, autonomous construction technology, including robotics and artificial intelligence, will construct buildings and other structures and improvements on the Moon and Mars.
Private individuals and private enterprises that visit the Moon and Mars (using humans, robots, and/or artificial intelligence) will seek to use, possess, and own resources on the Moon and Mars, including any water ice or other natural resources on the planets. The Moon regolith contains valuable rare-earth minerals, platinum-group minerals, volatiles (useful for processing and habitation), Helium-3 and titanium.
And space is now open for business. Space is no longer a scientific pursuit. Space is now commercialized. Space tourism flights have commenced.
Space mining is on the horizon. Many in the business world seek to mine asteroids. Asteroids hold mineral wealth, including rare-earth minerals, valued upwards in the quintillions.
Though there is a flurry of activity in the race to settle and commercialize space, the law on private ownership of property in space needs further clarification. Private ownership of private property in outer space is a gray area and a topic of debate amongst many. This presentation will discuss the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, the 2015 U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act that grants private U.S. Citizens “engaged in commercial recovery of an asteroid resource or a space resource” the right “to possess, own, transport, use, and sell the asteroid resource or space resource obtained,” and other applicable laws addressing ownership of property in space. Ways in which current law may be clarified will be proposed.