Extraterrestrial real estate: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Ownership claims of property on other planets, moons, or parts of outer space}}

{{Cleanup|date=October 2006}}<!-- cleanup style; POV; weasel words; -->

[[File:Moon merged small.jpg|thumb|250px|right|The Moon as seen by an observer from Earth. It is claimed as private property by several individuals.<ref name=CNN_moonown>

{{Unreferenced|date=October 2006}}

{{cite web

{{OR}}

| title = Who owns the moon? It's 'complicated', say experts

[[Image:Moon merged small.jpg|thumb|250px|right|The Moon as seen by an observer from Earth. Some people claim that private ownership of the [[Moon]] might be possible.]]

| year = 2008

'''Extraterrestrial real estate''' is either land on other [[planet]]s or [[natural satellite]]s or parts of [[space]] that is sold either through organizations or by individuals. Such sales are not legally recognised by any nation, but some nations and [[NASA]] have recognised the need for regulation of property rights in space due to the absence of such law.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}<!-- sources for nations and NASA? -->

| publisher = [[CNN]]

| url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/05/19/moon.land/index.html

}}

</ref><ref name=newser_moon>

{{cite web

| title = This man claims he owns the Moon

| year = 2013

| publisher = Newser

| url = http://www.newser.com/story/167265/this-man-claims-he-owns-the-moon.html

}}

</ref>]]

{{Extraterritorialities}}

'''Extraterrestrial real estate''' refers to [[Land claim|claim]]s of land [[ownership]] on other [[planet]]s, [[natural satellite]]s, or parts of [[Outer space|space]] by certain organizations or individuals. Most claims on extraterrestrial real estate have not been recognized by any authority, and have no legal standing. Nevertheless, some private individuals and organizations have claimed ownership of celestial bodies, such as the Moon, and have been involved in "selling" parts of them through certificates of ownership termed "Lunar deeds", "Martian deeds" or similar.

These sales have inspired certain colourful terms, including things like "Moon for Sale".

While personal claims have had little weight, whole [[Sovereign state|state]]s could potentially lay claim to colonizing celestial bodies. Extraterrestrial real estate not only deals with the legal standpoints of potential colonization, but how it could be feasible for long-term real estate. There are multiple unique factors to consider in extraterrestrial real estate, including [[Space transportation|transportation]], [[planetary protection]], sustainability, [[astrobiology]], how an extraterrestrial real estate market could function, and [[Space law#Geostationary orbit allocation|orbital real estate]].

==Legal issues==

<!-- As of 2006? -->The legal issues concerning ownership of extra-terrestrial real estate are still extremely vague. One of the underlying issues is whether private ownership of such property is recognized. It is generally accepted{{who}} that, as stated by the [[United Nations]] "[[Outer Space Treaty]]", space is the "common heritage of mankind"<!-- where? not found in treaty text, instead there is: "province of all mankind." Article 1 -->, and is not subject to claims on sovereignty by States, according to Article 2 of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. As treaties apply to States and place obligations on States, and since the Space Treaties were drafted at a time when, realistically, the only "people" going into space were States, none of the space treaties make reference to private individuals. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 has currently been ratified by 98 countries, including all the major space-faring nations.

==History==

Legal experts agree that while private ownership of the Moon is not explicitly forbidden, and while Article 6(2) of the Moon Agreement is seen by some as challenging the fundamental notion of non-appropriation in space, property rights on the Moon or other celestial bodies do not exist. The main obstacle to owning a part of the Moon or celestial bodies is that there is no legal system of property law, or indeed any law, on the Moon or celestial bodies, thus no rights of ownership can be created. State sovereignty allows a State to impose and implement its law on its territory, and no state can do this, due to the principle of no-appropriation in space enshrined in Article 2 of the Outer Space Treaty. The Moon Agreement states the "exploration and use of the Moon shall be the province of mankind and shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interest of all countries". Individual ownership rights thus fly in the face of current space law.

The topic of real estate on celestial objects has been written about since the 1890s. Dean Lindsay made claims for all extraterrestrial objects on June 15, 1936. The public sent offers to buy objects from him as well.<ref name=VGPop-2009-who-owns-Mn>

{{cite book

|first=Virgiliu G. |last=Pop |author-link=Virgiliu Pop

|title=Who Owns the Moon? Extraterrestrial aspects of land and mineral resources ownership

|publisher=[[Springer Publishing]]

|year=2009

|isbn=978-1-4020-9134-6

|pages=2–3

}}

</ref>

==Law and governance==

However, it should be noted that no major space faring nation has ratified the Moon Agreement thus this treaty was seen as somewhat of a failure. NB: it was signed by some. Eg. Australia, Austria, Belgium, Chile. See http://www.unoosa.org/pdf/publications/ST_SPACE_11_Add1_Rev2E.pdf section C -->

{{Main|Space law|Common heritage of humanity}}

The [[United Nations]]-sponsored 1967 [[Outer Space Treaty]] established all of outer space as an international [[commons]] by describing it as the "[[common heritage of mankind|province of all mankind]]" and forbidding any [[nation]] from claiming territorial sovereignty.<ref>

{| align="right"

{{cite web

|{{International ownership conventions}}

| title = United Nations Treaties and Principles on Outer Space

|}

| year=2002

| publisher = United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs

| url = http://www.unoosa.org/pdf/publications/STSPACE11E.pdf

| access-date = 2013-06-04

}}

</ref>

Article VI vests the responsibility for activities in space to [[States parties|States Parties]], regardless of whether they are carried out by governments or non-governmental entities. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 had been ratified by 102 countries by 2013,<ref name=UNOOSA-2013-01-01-status>

{{cite web

| title=Status of international agreements relating to activities in outer space

| date=2013-01-01

| publisher=[[UNOOSA|United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs]]

| url=http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/en/SpaceLaw/treatystatus/index.html

| access-date=2013-06-04

}}

</ref> including all the major space-faring nations. It has also been signed but not yet ratified by 26 other nations.<ref>

{{cite web

| title = Status of international agreements relating to activities in outer space as at 1&nbsp;January 2005

| date = February 2005

| publisher = United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs

| url = http://www.unoosa.org/pdf/publications/ST_SPACE_11_Add1_Rev2E.pdf

| access-date = 2013-06-04

}}

</ref>

The Outer Space Treaty established the basic ramifications for space activity in Article 1:

The legal issues partly depend on which is being discussed:

*Land ownership on planets and moons

*Ownership of vacant space

{{quote|"The exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development, and shall be the province of all mankind."}}

Aware of the need for a stricter approach, the Board of Directors of the International Institute of Space Law (the learned society of space lawyers issued a Statement in 2004 where it deplored the augmentation in the extraterrestrial real estate business “raising the opportunity for individuals to be misled”.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}

It continues in Article&nbsp;2 by stating:

The statement reads, inter alia –

''“The prohibition of national appropriation [of outer space and celestial bodies] … precludes the application of any national legislation on a territorial basis to validate a ‘private claim’. Hence, it is not sufficient for sellers of lunar deeds to point to national law, or the silence of national authorities, to justify their ostensible claims. The sellers of such deeds are unable to acquire legal title to their claims. Accordingly, the deeds they sell have no legal value or significance, and convey no recognized rights whatsoever.”''

{{quote|"Outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means."<ref>

The Board of Directors of the IISL calls State Parties to the Outer Space Treaty to –

{{cite web

''“comply with their obligations under … the Outer Space Treaty …[being] under a duty to ensure that, in their legal systems, transactions regarding claims to property rights to the Moon and other celestial bodies or parts thereof, have no legal significance or recognised legal effect.”''

| title = Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies

| publisher= [[United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs]]

| url=http://disarmament.un.org/treaties/t/outer_space

| access-date = 18 November 2020

}}

</ref>}}

The development of [[international space law]] has largely revolved around outer space as the "province of all mankind". The ''Magna Carta of Space'' presented by William A. Hyman in 1966 framed outer space explicitly not as ''[[terra nullius]]'' but as ''[[res communis]]'', which subsequently influenced the work of the [[United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space]].<ref>

While space lawyers consider the purported sale of extraterrestrial real estate a trivial matter, pertaining to consumer protection law, most of them agree that the subject of real property rights in outer space needs to be clarified. Among the specialists in the field of extraterrestrial property rights are Wayne J. White Jr., [[Virgiliu Pop]], Alan Wasser and Alexander Soucek of [[ESA]].

{{cite magazine

|first=Haris |last=Durrani

|date=19 July 2019

|title=Is spaceflight colonialism?

|magazine=The Nation

|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/apollo-space-lunar-rockets-colonialism/

|access-date=2 October 2020

}}

</ref><ref>

{{cite web

|author=Alexander Lock

|date=6 June 2015

|title=Space: The final frontier

|series=Medieval manuscripts blog

|website=The [[British Library]]

|url=https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2015/06/space-the-final-frontier.html

|access-date=18 November 2020

}}

</ref>

A subsequent treaty document, the international [[Moon Treaty]]—finalised in 1979 (just five countries had ratified it by 1984, but five countries was sufficient for it to be considered officially in force)—went further and forbade private ownership of extraterrestrial real estate.<ref>

==Similarities with the Earth==

{{cite web

Similar issues were raised with the exploration and colonisation of [[Antarctica]], but since those issues were resolved there have been no claims over land that was not the territory of a nation. The Antarctica issue was clouded by the initial difficulties with establishing permanent residence there, in a similar way to the situation in outer space at present.

|title = Moon Treaty

|date = 2001-08-31

|publisher = [[NASA Ames Research Center]]

|url = http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/results/ice/moon.htm

|access-date = 2013-06-04

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130606192246/http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/results/ice/moon.htm

|archive-date = 2013-06-06

}}

</ref>

This agreement has not been widely ratified,<ref name=UNOOSA-2013-01-01-status/><ref>

{{cite web

| title=Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies

| publisher=United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs

| url=http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/SpaceLaw/moon.html

| access-date=2013-06-04

}}

</ref>

with only 18{{nbsp}}countries having ratified it by 2018.<ref>

{{cite web

|title=Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies

|publisher=[[United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs]]

|url=http://disarmament.un.org/treaties/t/moon

|access-date=2018-08-19

}}

</ref>

Several individuals and private organizations claimed ownership of the moon and other extraterrestrial bodies, but no such claims have yet been recognized. A white paper by the [[Competitive Enterprise Institute]] suggested legislation wherein the US would recognize claims made by private entities, American and others, which meet certain conditions regarding habitation and transportation.<ref>

==Land ownership on planets and moons==

{{cite web

The first claim to attract some attention involved a man in [[Nevada]] who has been selling [[square metre|square-meter]] lots on the [[Moon]], posting what purport to be certificates of ownership and locations. A case has yet to go to a court of law attesting ownership. Private or government ownership of land on planets or moons is considered{{who}} more feasible than that of parcels of empty space<!-- parcel meaning? --> simply because determining and recording the position of the land is easier.<!-- fail to see point of this sentence --> It is easily imaginable that real estate on the moon will be available for private ownership.<!-- Explain. Under what conditions? What relevance is what things are easily imaginable? -->

|last=Foust |first=Jeff

|date=9 April 2012

|title = Staking a claim on the Moon

|website=The Space Review

|url = http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2058/1

|access-date=20 August 2018

}}

</ref>

==MoonPrivate forpurchase sale?schemes==

Some individuals and organizations offer schemes or plans claiming to allow people to purchase portions of the [[Moon]] or other celestial bodies. Though the details of some of the schemes' legal arguments vary, one goes so far as to state that, although the [[Outer Space Treaty]] (which entered force in 1967) forbids countries from claiming celestial bodies, there is no such provision forbidding [[private citizen]]s from doing so. However, Article VI of this treaty states "The activities of non-governmental entities in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, shall require authorization and continuing supervision by the appropriate State Party to the Treaty." Thus, while it does not explicitly prohibit such schemes, the treaty does require they be authorized by the claimants' government.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

'''''Moon for sale''''' refers to any one of a number of schemes or plans claiming to allow people to purchase portions of the [[Moon]] or other celestial bodies.

Though the details of some of the schemes' legal arguments vary, one goes so far as to state that although the [[Outer Space Treaty]], which entered force in [[1967]], forbids countries from claiming celestial bodies, there is no such provision forbidding private individuals from doing so. The [[short story]] ''[[The Man Who Sold the Moon]]'' by [[Robert A. Heinlein]], which was written in 1949, offers a portrayal regardingof such plans or schemes, and created the concept of a "Lunar Republic". Heinlein's 1961 novel ''[[Stranger in a Strange Land]]'' also makes referencerefers to a space law case called the ''Larkin Decision''.

Since the 1970s, various companies and "[[Star registry|star registries]]" claiming to sell stars or naming rights to them have been created.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Golden |first=Frederic |date=1982-01-11 |title=Science: Stellar Idea or Cosmic Scam? |language=en-US |magazine=Time |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,925195-2,00.html |access-date=2022-09-18 |issn=0040-781X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Daley |first=Beth |date=May 1, 2000 |title=New round of star wars: Entrepreneurs battle over celestial naming rights |url=https://www.naic.edu/~gibson/starnames/globe.html |access-date=2022-09-18 |website=Boston Globe}}</ref>

Many states and countries have corollaries to their real estate and property laws to prevent wanton claiming of new-found lands, that state that a simple claim to the territory is not enough; the claimant must also demonstrate "intent to occupy," something that, at this time, is difficult to do with the Moon and any other celestial body.<!-- is this infact relevant to celestial bodies? Is this OR? Appears to need a cite. -->

===Geostationary orbits{{anchor|Bogota Declaration}}===

Considering these facts<!-- which are meant? the corollaries and/or the difficulty? -->, legally, the schemes' "deeds" have only symbolic or novelty value and no official governing body in the world has yet granted any legal validity to them.

{{main|Space law#Geostationary orbit allocation|Bogota Declaration}}

A space ownership issue of current practical importance is the allocation of slots for satellites in [[geostationary orbit]]. This is managed by the [[International Telecommunication Union]]. The 1976 Declaration of the First Meeting of Equatorial Countries, also known as the [[Bogota Declaration]], signed by several countries located on the Earth's [[equator]], attempted to assert sovereignty over those portions of the geostationary orbit that continuously lie over the signatory nation's territory.<ref>

{{cite web

| title=Text of Declaration of the First Meeting of Equatorial Countries

| date=2007-01-23

| publisher=[[Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency]]

| url=http://www.jaxa.jp/library/space_law/chapter_2/2-2-1-2_e.html

| access-date=2013-06-04

}}

</ref> These claims did not receive wider international support or recognition and were subsequently largely abandoned. Instead, slots have thereafter been internationally allocated.

== Orbital real estate ==

===Supposed moon sellers===

[[File:Space_Junk_-_full_mag.jpg|alt=|thumb|A spot of space debris illuminates in the night sky.]]

Two problematic issues arise regarding [[Derelict satellite|derelict]] spacecraft: In orbit around the Earth, 'dead' and abandoned satellites threaten future travel in the same orbits with a spray of deadly debris. In orbit around extraterrestrial planets, non-sterile orbiters in decaying orbits threaten to pollute the remote planets they orbit with Earth-organisms, and hence create a false 'signal' of alien life, possibly destroying or supplanting native life, or infesting its remains.

===Build-up of hazards in orbit around Earth===

Ever since the start of the "Lunar Deeds" craze, various businesses have validated their sale of the deeds via such claims as a supposed loophole in current law. Currently no argument for the validity or invalidity of these arguments have been pressed.

A prominent environmental problem in near-Earth orbital space is "[[space junk]]". Human-made refuse left in space endangers orbital real estate for future satellites, causing problems for future use of nearby space. In the case of debris cluttering orbital space, if the orbiting debris continue to build up without remediation, [[Kessler syndrome|orbits near the Earth will become so crowded with deadly missiles that some operations in space will no longer be attainable]].<ref>

{{cite book

|last=Klinkrad |first=H.

|year=2006

|chapter=The current space debris environment and its sources

|title=Space Debris

|series=Springer Praxis Books

|pages=5–58

|publisher=Springer

|place=Berlin & Heidelberg DE

|doi=10.1007/3-540-37674-7_2

|isbn=978-3-540-25448-5

}}

</ref>

To remediate damage done by human-made objects, astronauts will need to bring specific hardware into space to exterminate debris. Once cleared, the surrounding space around a planet can then be used for more real estate opportunities. There are specific orbits, however, that have caused ownership debate.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Presently, over the internet, the number of ownership claims by various enterprises and business is astronomical.<!-- The millions? Billions? Quadrillions? Gazillions? Googolplexes? --> While various members of the larger "groups" have come forward to assert themselves, none are of any notability over the other in comparison to legal issues nor price issues.

===Contamination of planets with terrestrial life===

==History of extraterrestrial claims==

Another issue is the crashing of abandoned orbital debris on extraterrestrial planets. Before the 21st{{nbsp}}century, exploration of other planets in the [[Solar System]] raised little concern about contaminating planets with life from the Earth. Since then experiments have shown that some terrestrial life is astonishingly hardy, and the time spent in transit in space is not a guarantee of a sterile spacecraft on arrival. Some 'bugs' will survive the trip, potentially invade the planet, eliminating the chance of determining whether life arose independently on other planets, or in the deep geologic past have spread between the planets of the Solar System via hypothetical "[[panspermia]]" processes. If an old, contaminated orbiter crashes onto an extraterrestrial planet, except in extreme cases, it will no longer be possible to test the panspermia hypothesis with any confidence in the outcome.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Claims for extraterrestrial real estate are not a new phenomenon. The Moon has been the symbol of supreme desire. Historically, "asking for the Moon" meant asking for the impossible as owning the Moon and the stars was both the ultimate want and the ultimate folly. Given this desire, there ought to arise people who would offer to sell the moon. With or without material aims, many people throughout the ages thought they were the first ones to embed the flag of their desire on the alien orbs.

According to Virgiliu Pop, the number of "extraterrestrial real estate" claimants and salesmen is impressive. In 2006, Mr. Pop published a monograph cataloguing these unusual claims.<ref>[http://www.virgiliu.com "Unreal Estate - the Men who Sold the Moon"]</ref> His book mentions, inter alia, that-

* In 1937, A.D.Lindsay of [[Ocilla, Georgia]] claimed all “planets, islands-of-space or other matter” in the Universe as his property.

* In the 1940s, people were enquiring with the US Bureau of Land Management for lunar homesteads.

* In 1948, James Thomas Mangan of [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]] proclaimed himself First Representative of the Nation of Celestial Space and envisaged selling “parcels of space” to interested buyers.

* In the 1950s, deeds for square inches of lunar property were offered as premiums with morning cereals.

* In 1952, a Science Fiction club in [[Berkeley, California]] claimed a triangular area on the Moon with the United Nations.

* In 1953, Jenaro Gajardo Vera of [[Chile]] lodged the first Latin American claim to the Moon.

* In 1955, [[Copernicus (lunar crater)|Crater Copernicus]] was parceled by Robert R. Coles, the CEO of the Interplanetary Development Corporation, much to the chagrin of New York State Attorney General’s office.

* [[Japan]] entered the extraterrestrial real estate business in 1956.<!-- The nation entered it? Amazing. Details, please. -->

* In 1957, a [[Le Mars, Iowa]] newspaper gave its readers deeds to lunar farms.

* In the 1960s, the Moon and Venus were officially annexed by several municipalities. [[Deer Park, Texas]], claimed planet Venus, while [[Oklahoma City, Oklahoma|Oklahoma City]] and [[Geneva, Ohio]] expanded their boundaries with the Moon.

* In 1969, a man in [[Brazil]] was arrested for selling lunar real estate.

* In the 1970s, Barry McArdle of [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]] criss-crossed America “selling” the Moon in the mode of the traveling medicine show performer.

* In 1974, land on Mercury was "sold" by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific as a fund raising ploy.

* In 1980, the American Dennis Hope starts his own business, claiming to have found a loophole in international law allowing him to claim full sovereignty of the moon. He was the first to sell ''lunar deeds'' (also on the Internet) after sending off declarations to the US, (then) Soviet and UN governments. Hope has so far made $9 million off his business, claiming to sell 1,500 lunar properties a day at $20 an acre. He allocates land to be sold by closing his eyes and randomly pointing to a map of the Moon.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6533169.stm|title=Making a mint out of the Moon|publisher=[[BBC]]|date=[[2007-04-09]]|accessdate=2007-04-09}}</ref>

* In 1982, newborn [[Prince William]] and [[Kermit the Frog]] were given complimentary “Martian Land” packages, courtesy of Fiske Planetarium’s David Aguilar.

* In 1997, three men in [[Yemen]] sued NASA for landing on their inheritance – planet Mars.

* In 1998, Mars was claimed by the [http://www.education-1.net/tribe.htm Western Federation Church and Tribe], who plan to [[terraform]] it, provided there is no indigenous life.

* In 1999, The Lunar Registry was founded, like the Lunar Embassy, to sell real estate on the Moon.

* In 2000, Russ Wylie founded buyuranus.com, a humoristic approach outlining the importance of “owning” Uranus.

* In 2001, Orbital Development invoiced NASA for having landed a probe on asteroid [[433 Eros|Eros]], and a legal battle ensues.

* In 2001, [[Virgiliu Pop]] lodged a tongue-in-cheek claim for the Sun with the Archimedes Institute.

* In 2002, [[Anthony M Grasso]] incorporated the ''Lunar Federation Inc '', according to Articles of Incorporation of the State of Florida, and entered the Moon and Mars Real Estate Business.

* In 2003, [[Charles Wesley Faires]] claimed ownership of the three stars of Orion's Belt: Alnilam, Alnitak and Mintaka. The claim has been filed with a Knox County Courthouse, United States Library of Congress and the Kingdom of Swaziland, among other entities.

* In 2005, [[Marina Bai]], a Russian astrologer, sued NASA for having encroached upon her ‘holy of holies’ (the moon) by landing a probe on comet [[9P/Tempel|Tempel 1]].

* In 2006, American Joey Glaser registered a claim for the ownership of the land of the Kuiper Belt and beyond (in the cinfinds of the solar system). (This information is not included in Mr. Pop's book.)

In 2007, Nicholas Yoho-Wikse filed official claim to Venus, and all space from its surface out to 333km from it to space vacuum, to be eternally his. He filed with the UN and the International Court of Justice{{Fact|date=February 2007}} (a court of planet earth states)...he pledged to share it however as it was such a large amount of space to deal with...he declared soon after the proposed motto of Venus to be "love reigns eternally" and expected all future inhabitants to live in this spirit of planet Venus..."earth had so far failed in this...may venus never be so..."<!-- What are all these ellipses for? -->

A company called MoonEstates has also been selling plots on the Moon and Mars, which it purchased from Dennis Hope.<ref>"Company Makes Millions Selling the Moon", ''Weekend Edition'', 7 Oct 2006. [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6215803]</ref>

==Notable claims==

==Ownership of empty space==

* [[Richard Garriott]], a famous computer game designer and astronaut's son, legitimately purchased in 1993 the [[Lunokhod 2]] and its [[Luna 21]] lander from the then Russian [[Lavochkin]] bureau of the [[Soviet space program]], being the first private purchase of an object on another astronomical body. Since then, as a private person being not bound to international agreements, he has jokingly claimed the rest of the Moon in the name of his gaming character, [[Lord British]],<ref>

Ownership of empty space can be thought of as a different issue to that of land ownership on extra-terrestrial bodies, because of its emptiness, the difficulty of defining its bounds, and the difficulty of keeping anything within it. The United Nations "Outer Space Treaty" reserves space for the good of mankind, and effectively prohibits private ownership of arbitrary parcels of empty space, although governments which have not signed the relevant treaties may dispute the U.N.'s authority in this matter.

{{cite web

| first=Cindy | last=Yans

| date=2001-04-13

| title= Lord British, we hardly knew ye

| url=http://demiurg.net/games/lb/

| access-date=2013-06-04

}}

</ref> or at least the immediate area around the two objects and possible the 39 km long path the rover took.<ref name="David 2010 u444">{{cite web | last=David | first=Leonard | title=Privately Owned Soviet Moon Rover Sparks Space Law Talks | website=Space.com | date=2010-03-22 | url=https://www.space.com/8073-privately-owned-soviet-moon-rover-sparks-space-law-talks.html | access-date=2023-11-03}}</ref>

[[File:Lunokhod 2 Luna 21 lunar map.png|thumb|Map of Lunokhod 2's path in [[Le Monnier (crater)|Le Monnier crater]] at the eastern rim of [[Mare Serenitatis]]]]

A space ownership issue of current practical importance is the allocation of slots for satellites in [[geostationary orbit]]. This is managed by the [[ITU]].

* Chilean lawyer [[Jenaro Gajardo Vera]] gained notoriety for his 1953 claim of ownership of the [[Moon]].<ref name=VGPop-2009-who-owns-Mn/>

* Martin Juergens from Germany claims that the Moon has belonged to his family since 15{{nbsp}}July 1756, when the Prussian king [[Frederick the Great of Prussia|Frederick the Great]] presented it to his ancestor, Aul Juergens, as a symbolic gesture of gratitude for services rendered, and decreed that it should pass to the youngest born son.<ref>

{{cite news

| last=Tull | first=D.

| year=1996

| title=The Moon is mine

| website=Parascope

| url=http://www.parascope.com/articles/1196/moonw.htm

| access-date=2013-06-04

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313201737/http://parascope.com/articles/1196/moonw.htm

| archive-date=13 March 2016

}}

</ref>

* A. Dean Lindsay made claims for all extraterrestrial objects on June 15, 1936, and sent a letter to Pittsburgh Notary Public along with a deed and money for establishment of the property. The public sent offers to buy objects from him as well.<ref name=VGPop-2009-who-owns-Mn/> He had previously made claims on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.<ref name=VGPop-2006-unreal>

{{cite book

|first=Virgiliu G. |last=Pop |author-link=Virgiliu Pop

|date=2006

|title=Unreal Estate: The men who sold the Moon

|page=17

|publisher=Exposure Publishing

|isbn=1-84685-095-9

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GllWkewypw4C

}}

</ref>

* [[James T. Mangan]] (1896–1970) was a famous eccentric, public relations man and best-selling author on self-help topics who publicly claimed ownership of [[outer space]] in 1948. Mangan founded what he called the ''[[Nation of Celestial Space]]'' and registered it with the [[Cook County, Illinois]], Recorder of Deeds and Titles on 1{{nbsp}}January 1949.<ref>{{cite magazine

| title = Chicago man stakes claim to outer space

| date = May 1949

| magazine = [[Science Illustrated]]

}}

:: ''cited by''

{{cite web

| title = republished

| type = blog

| website = modernmechanix.com

| url = http://blog.modernmechanix.com/chicago-man-stakes-claim-to-outer-space/

| access-date = 2013-06-04

| archive-date = 2013-04-29

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130429032007/http://blog.modernmechanix.com/chicago-man-stakes-claim-to-outer-space/

}}</ref>

* Robert R. Coles, former chairman of New York's [[Hayden Planetarium]], started "the interplanetary Development Corporation"<ref>

{{cite web

| title=Robert R. Coles pointing to Moon Map

| date=1955-11-17

| publisher=[[Branded Entertainment Network|Corbis]]

| access-date=2013-06-04

| url=http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/U1094418/robert-r-coles-pointing-to-moon-map

}}

</ref> and sold lots on the Moon for one dollar per acre ($2.50/ha).<ref>

{{cite magazine

|title={{grey|[no title cited]}}

|date=5 December 1955

|magazine=Newsweek

|page=31

}}

:: ''cited by''

{{cite book

|last = White |first = W.N. Jr.

|year = 1985

|title = Real Property Rights in Outer Space

|edition = Unpublished academic

|at = Footnote&nbsp;79, p. 41

}} ''The quotation of the primary source is inexact.''

</ref>

* Dennis Hope, an [[entrepreneur]] in the [[United States|U.S.]], sells extraterrestrial real estate.<ref name=Jaggard-2009-07-17-DennisHope>

{{cite news

| first=Victoria | last=Jaggard

| date=2009-07-17

| title=Who owns the Moon? The Galactic Government vs. the U.N.

| department=National Geographic News

| magazine=[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]

| url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/07/090717-who-owns-moon-real-estate.html

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090721065721/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/07/090717-who-owns-moon-real-estate.html

| url-status=dead

| archive-date=July 21, 2009

| access-date=2013-06-04

}}

</ref> In 1980, he started his own business, the Lunar Embassy Commission.<ref>

{{cite web

| title=Lunar Embassy - World Headquarters

| date=2006-07-17

| type=main page

| url=http://www.lunarembassy.com/

| access-date=2013-06-04

}}

</ref> Hope claimed to have sold 2.5M{{nbsp}}{{convert|1|acre|ha m2|adj=on}} plots on the Moon as of 2009, for around US$20 per acre (US$50/[[hectare|ha]]). He allocates land to be sold by closing his eyes and randomly pointing to a map of the Moon. He claims two former US presidents as customers, stating [[Jimmy Carter]] and [[Ronald Reagan]] had aides purchase the plots on the Moon.<ref>

{{cite news

|title=Meet the man who owns the Moon

|date=25 March 2013

|website=U.S. News & World Report

|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/03/25/meet-the-man-who-owns-the-moon

|access-date=5 April 2014

}}

</ref><ref>

{{cite news

|title=Dennis M. Hope has owned the moon since 1980 because he says so

|date=11 April 2013

|website=VICE

|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/ive-owned-the-moon-since-1980/

|access-date=5 April 2014

}}

</ref>

* In 1997, three men from Yemen – Adam Ismail, Mustafa Khalil, and Abdullah al-Umari – sued [[NASA]] for invading Mars. They claim that they "inherited the planet from our ancestors 3,000{{nbsp}}years ago".<ref>

{{cite news

| title=3 Yemenis sue NASA for trespassing on Mars

| date=1997-07-24

| website=[[CNN]]

| url=http://edition.cnn.com/TECH/9707/24/yemen.mars/

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031207031748/http://edition.cnn.com/TECH/9707/24/yemen.mars/

| url-status=dead

| archive-date=December 7, 2003

| access-date=2013-06-04

}}

</ref> They based their argument on mythologies of the [[Sabaean language|Himyaritic]] and [[Sabaeans|Sabaean]] civilizations that existed several thousand years{{nbsp}}B.C.E.<ref>

{{cite news

| title=Yemenis claim Mars

| date=1998-03-22

| website=[[BBC News]]

| publisher=[[British Broadcasting Corporation]]

| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/despatches/67814.stm

| access-date=2013-06-04

}}

</ref>

* Gregory W. Nemitz claimed ownership of Asteroid [[433 Eros|(433){{nbsp}}Eros]], which ''[[NEAR Shoemaker]]'' landed on in 2001. His company, called "Orbital Development",<ref>

{{cite web

| url=http://www.orbdev.com/

| title=Orbital Development

| date=August 2007

| access-date=2013-06-04

}}

</ref> presented NASA with a bill for US$20, for parking the spacecraft at the asteroid. NASA declined to pay, citing the lack of legal standing.<ref>

{{cite web

| title=The Eros Project: Legal Actions

| date=2004-03-08

| url=http://www.erosproject.com/legal.html

| access-date=2013-06-04

}}

</ref>

==See also==

{{div col |colwidth=15em |content=

*[[Common heritage of mankind]]

*[[Land claim]]

*[[Star designation#Sale of star names by non-scientific entities|Sale of star names]]

*[[United Nations|International Ownership Treaties]]

*[[Real estate]]

*[[Real estate business]]

}} <!-- end "content=" -->

==References==

{{reflist|25em|refs=

<references />

*[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12536410/ MSNBC Space Commercialization Article]

}} <!-- end "refs=" -->

*[http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200604/s1626715.htm ABC News Lunar Commercialization Article]

*[http://edition.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/05/01/moon.exploration.reut/index.html CNN Property Rights Article]

*[http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/SpaceLaw/outerspt.html "Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies"]

*[http://www.asi.org/adb/j/02/legal-roadblocks.html Moon Treaty]

*[http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/11/20/lunar.land/index.html CNN Lunar Land Claim]

*[http://www.iafastro-iisl.com/additional%20pages/Statement_Moon.htm "Statement by the Board of Directors of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL) On Claims to Property Rights Regarding The Moon and Other Celestial Bodies"]

*[http://www.spacedaily.com/news/oped-02e.html "Lawyer Claims To 'Own' The Sun"]

*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/despatches/67814.stm "Yemenis claim Mars"]

*[http://www.geocities.com/cjstender/McArdle.htm "I Sold the Moon" - autobiographical book (forthcoming) about a former lunar salesman]

*[http://orionsbelt.4t.com I Own Orion's Belt - Local news broadcast about Charles Wesley Faires' claim of ownership of the three stars of Orion's Belt]

*[http://kuiper-belt-reality.tripod.com Kuiper Bel Reality - Selling acres in the Kuiper Belt

==External links==

*[http://www.permanent.com/archimedes/LawLibrary.html "Library of space law"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627190251/https://www.permanent.com/archimedes/LawLibrary.html |date=2022-06-27 }}

*[http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/ United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs]

*[http://www.oosa.unviennaunoosa.org/oosa/en/SpaceLaw/indexouterspt.html "Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Law (fromIncluding the UnitedMoon and Other NationsCelestial webpage)Bodies"]

*[http://www.asi.org/adb/j/02/legal-roadblocks.html Moon Treaty] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990218062255/http://www.asi.org/adb/j/02/legal-roadblocks.html |date=1999-02-18 }}

*[http://www.spacefuture.com/archive/lunar_real_estate_buyer_beware.shtml Lunar Real Estate: Buyer, Beware!]

*[http://www.virgiliu.com "Unreal Estate: The Men who Sold the Moon" by Virgiliu Pop]

{{Real estate}}

*[http://www.spacelawprobe.com Space Law Probe]

{{Scams and confidence tricks}}

{{Politics of outer space}}

{{Portal bar|Society|Astronomy|Stars|Spaceflight|Outer space|Solar System}}

[[Category:Space law]]

[[Category:Exploration of the Moon]]

[[Category:Real estate]]

[[Category:Special territories]]

[[de:Lunar Embassy]]