Buy the Moon | Universe Today

Written by Fraser Cain

Have you ever heard of services that will let you buy the Moon? Imagine if you could own property on the Moon. Sure you can't actually travel there and visit it, but when the aliens come with their spaceships, maybe you could visit. Unfortunately, nobody is actually allowed to sell property on the Moon.

An international treaty was created by the United Nations, and signed by 99 countries as of 2008, which defines the international law on space. It says that countries aren't allowed to put weapons of mass destruction into space, and declares that: "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".

In other words, countries aren't allowed to claim ownership of any locations in space. When the Apollo astronauts landed on the Moon, there were there for exploration, not conquest. It's similar to the rules applied to International Waters. It restricts the control of private property rights in the way that you can't own the high seas.

However, they say that possession is 9/10ths of the law. In other words, if you could build a rocket and fly up to the Moon. You would be able to live there on your lunar property, and nobody would be able to do anything about it. But in the far future, when lunar transportation is fast and affordable, and everyone's moving up to the Moon, don't expect anyone to honor your ownership claims.

We have written many articles about the Moon. Here's an article about a company that wants to put advertising on the Moon, and here's an article about how you can land on the Moon in Google Earth.

You can read the full international outer space treaty here.

We have recorded several episodes of Astronomy Cast about the Moon. Here's a good one, Episode 17: Where Does the Moon Come From?

Filed under: Astronomy

Tags: buy the moon, lunar property, Moon, the moon