Gravity Grains

1. Age and Emancipation Requirements

Gravity Grains may only accept members who are legally capable of entering into binding agreements. Accordingly:

• Members must be 18 years of age or older, or
• Must be legally emancipated under the laws of their jurisdiction.

This requirement ensures compliance with international contract law and protects both the organization and its members.

2. Restrictions Based on Government Ownership or Control

Certain countries maintain legal frameworks in which individuals, their data, or their means of participation are considered state-controlled or state-owned. Under these conditions:

• Individuals whose participation is legally controlled by their government, or
• Individuals whose personal data cannot be independently consented to

cannot be accepted as members.

This restriction is not political in nature; it is a compliance requirement to ensure that all members can legally consent to membership, participation, and data handling under international law.

3. Prohibition on State-Owned or Non-Autonomous Participants

Membership is limited to individuals who:

• Possess full legal autonomy,
• Are not acting as agents of a state, and
• Are not subject to laws that compel disclosure, participation, or representation on behalf of a government entity.

This protects the integrity of Gravity Grains’ governance processes and ensures that all members participate as private individuals.

4. No Shareholders, No Equity Ownership

Gravity Grains is not an equity-based organization. It does not issue shares, ownership stakes, or financial voting rights. Membership:

• Does not confer ownership,
• Does not constitute an investment, and
• Does not create a fiduciary relationship.

This structure ensures that governance remains democratic and mission-aligned rather than profit-driven.

5. Future Transition to a Benefit Corporation (B-Corp)

Gravity Grains intends to transition into a Benefit Corporation when operationally appropriate. Upon transition:

• Governance will be vested in democratically elected members,
• Bylaws will define rights, responsibilities, and procedures, and
• Public benefit commitments will be legally binding.

These notes clarify that membership today is part of a transitional governance period.

6. Compliance With International Space Law

Because Gravity Grains operates with the long-term intention of participating in spacefaring activities, membership and governance structures must remain compatible with:

• The Outer Space Treaty,
• The Moon Agreement (where applicable),
• National space law frameworks, and
• Export control and dual-use regulations.

These constraints require that all members be legally autonomous individuals capable of participating in a future civic framework that may extend beyond Earth.

Regulatory and sanctions categories

Gravity Grains is required to respect external legal and regulatory frameworks that restrict how we may interact with certain countries, territories, and persons. Our membership eligibility rules are therefore informed by three independent categories maintained by international and United States authorities:

1. ITAR and U.S. military/space export restrictions

The United States International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and related State Department rules establish a policy of denial for the export of defense and certain space-related articles and services to specified countries. These appear in 22 CFR § 126.1 and associated guidance, and include a set of “proscribed countries” for which export licenses are generally denied, as well as countries subject to prohibitions on military and space exports more broadly.

In addition, the State Department has recently added Nicaragua to the ITAR § 126.1 list of proscribed countries, citing concerns about democratic backsliding and security cooperation with Russia. Many universities and research institutions summarize these restrictions in practical terms as “countries subject to prohibition on military/space exports.”

2. OFAC sanctions programs and comprehensively sanctioned countries

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) administers financial and trade sanctions programs. These include comprehensively sanctioned countries (where most transactions by U.S. persons are prohibited without a license) and other countries subject to targeted sanctions programs. OFAC maintains the official sanctions program list and searchable sanctions datasets on its public website.

Compliance-oriented summaries, such as those maintained by major universities, group these into comprehensively sanctioned countries (e.g., Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia) and a broader set of countries subject to specific sanctions programs (e.g., Afghanistan, Belarus, Burma/Myanmar, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Libya, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Venezuela, Yemen).

3. United Nations Security Council sanctions regimes

The United Nations Security Council maintains multiple sanctions regimes under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, including arms embargoes, travel bans, and financial restrictions, in response to threats to international peace and security. The UN provides a consolidated sanctions list for all individuals and entities subject to Security Council measures, as well as regime-specific pages for each country or region under sanctions.

Independent compliance tools and references summarize these UN sanctions regimes and note that, as of 2025, sanctions apply in connection with countries including Afghanistan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burma/Myanmar, Burundi, Central African Republic, China, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Moldova, Montenegro, Nicaragua, North Korea, Russia, Serbia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Türkiye, Venezuela, Yemen, Zimbabwe.

Countries affected by external sanctions and export controls

The following countries currently appear on at least one of the regulatory or sanctions lists described above. A checkmark indicates that the country is present in that category according to publicly available compliance references and official sources.

This table is provided as a high-level compliance aid and does not replace formal sanctions or export-control screening. Gravity Grains will periodically review and update it as external regimes change.

Why these restrictions exist

Gravity Grains exists to help humanity become a sustainable, multi‑world civilization. To do that responsibly, we must operate within the legal frameworks that govern space technology, dual‑use capabilities, and international security. Some of our work—including mission architectures like Project Crucible that involve launch systems, impactors, and space‑relevant hardware—will almost certainly require compliance with export-control regimes such as the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and related U.S. and international controls on military and space technologies.

The restrictions reflected in the table above are therefore not value judgments about any nation or its people. They are a consequence of external legal obligations and global sanctions regimes that we do not control. In some jurisdictions, these rules limit our ability to safely and lawfully share technical details, collaborate on space systems, or accept formal membership without risking harm to our mission, our partners, or our participants.

We recognize that many people living in or connected to these countries care deeply about space, stewardship, and the future of our species. Our hope is that, over time, the underlying political and legal conditions that drive these restrictions will ease, sanctions will be lifted, and export-control constraints will be clarified in ways that allow broader participation. As a global civilization, we will need contributions from every corner of Earth if we are to explore the Moon, Venus, Mars, and the wider solar system together.

Until then, Gravity Grains will continue to align its membership and participation rules with applicable law, while designing our architectures, narratives, and governance frameworks with a long view: that one day, the legal barriers reflected here will be historical artifacts of an earlier era in humanity’s path to the stars.