The Delicate Problems Of Inter-Galactic Franchising

CHICAGO - May 31, 2013 - PRLog -- Olympia Fields, IL - As the Space-X Dragon splashed down in Los Angeles the other day, this couldn’t help but get caught up in the most crucial technology question of our day; Who will buy the franchise rights when they are ready to build the first Hampton Inn next to the International Space Station to accommodate all the tourists that Elon Musk at Space-X and Sir Richard Branson from Virgin Galactic will be constantly hauling up to enjoy the view?

Things are about to get a little messy and complicated when it comes to international territory rights, general ownership, and franchise sales on multiple planets.  A person may think it’s a joke, but it’s almost a guarantee that Attorney Tim Hughes, General Counsel and VP at Space-X, and Marc Holzapfel, Legal Director at Virgin Galactic are staying awake at night worrying about how the most successful franchisors in the world are going to carve up the universe.  After all, we are just one particle-accelerator engine design away from being able to cost-effectively mine lithium and gold from the moon.  Who is going to house and feed all these miners and space-tourists when these large-format space vessels are going back-and-forth like the L-Train?

The Cato Institute via contributing author Joel D. Scheraga wrote a white paper outlining how as satellite technology becomes increasingly less expensive, territory rights for the expanded amount of units launched to control our massive need for communications is becoming more complicated.  The same way that the placement and targeting of this satellite “real-estate” needs to be valued and distributed properly in today’s space environment, commercial franchise rights must also be defined throughout the galaxy.  

At this juncture, space tourism is the only potentially viable justification for putting franchises in space.  Harvesting minerals, however, is only ten to twenty years out, according to Bob Richards, CEO of Moon Express in this recent interview https://www.youtube.com/embed/Sv0EKb_4JBg.  When considering the viability of any franchise investment, looking at least ten years out is certainly a prerequisite, especially when considering something as challenging as space expansion.  



But for now, Sir Richard Branson from Virgin Galactic is the only one brave enough to take the critical step of actually selling TICKETS to space (530 tickets sold at last count! http://www.virgingalactic.com/booking/) and therefore is in a stellar position (no pun intended) to organize the franchise investment for inter-galactic hotels and entertainment.  People better believe that the zillionaires that can afford those travel tickets are going to get a little board hanging out at a given planetary station for long periods of time without any entertainment.  I mean, staring out the window into space will be fun for maybe a day and a half, and then you need some Dom Perignon and a functioning Jacuzzi.  

It is not hard to picture either Elon or Sir Richard arranging financing to erect the buildings to house the first KFCs, McDonalds, and Four Seasons Hotels on every available planet.  But what does the U.S. do when China cries “foul”, pointing out that the U.S. and U.K. have no right to declare inter-galactic boundaries arbitrarily and start soaking up space?  There is no doubt that territorial and franchise legislation in space will soon launch a new and complicated chapter in franchise law, redefining the rules of replication beyond our world’s borders.

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