Buzz
Nicolas Nelson:"What if I travel to Mars and claim it by right of first discovery or conquest, then announce, ‘I’m offering the entire planet for sale..."
Not possible, my friend.
The 1967 Outer Space Treaty explicitly states that all extraterrestrial property is held in common for the benefit of all humankind and cannot be claimed as the sovereign property of any single nation. Historically, private ownership was tied to sovereign control, often requiring a formal transfer from the ruling entity, such as a crown. Today, land ownership can be based on a legal framework, whether through a nation's constitution or an international agreement, like the Outer Space Treaty, which establishes this legal framework for space and celestial bodies.
The 1967 Outer Space Treaty doesn't make private ownership of space or planets illegal. Like any solid legal framework, the OST-1967 established a foundation, with subsequent laws passed by nations that signed the treaty continuing to expand on it. For example, both Luxembourg and the United States have enacted laws that clarify property rights to 'space resources,' whether gathered in orbit (such as asteroids, comets, or solar energy converted by photovoltaic panels) or on a planet's surface or below it (like any resources you gather on Mars, Venus, or elsewhere).
So, as I understand it now, you can land on Mars and create your settlement: you own everything you brought with you, but not the land you set it on.
However, as your construction bots move regolith onto your inflatable dormitory to shield it from radiation, that regolith becomes a 'resource' that you've collected and are using. Now, that belongs to you as well.
Your Sabatier reactors (no radiation risk, don’t worry) and RWGS plant start drawing in the sparse Martian atmosphere to create oxygen, methane, and water. You drill a well down to a geothermal aquifer deep below your settlement, using that well to generate power, heat your settlement, conduct intriguing scientific research (perhaps searching for microbial life!), and carefully filter it for your water supply: now all of those 'resources' are yours.
But things are getting more complicated. You’ve drilled a well and have rights to use it… does this grant you 'water rights' to the massive aquifer you've tapped? To some extent? You’ve built so much infrastructure in a defined area: even though you can't own it like traditional 'real estate,' haven’t you essentially secured a blanket of rights to it as if you had homesteaded or staked a mining claim?
You have a launch and landing pad nearby (but not too close) with radar telemetry around it: while you don’t own the rights to the open air above your launch pad simply because you own the pad, you can claim those rights based on how you use that resource. Your future neighbor can’t build a bridge directly over your launch pad as it would disrupt your ability to utilize the space resource that is yours.
Your annoying neighbor could act foolishly and set up a fragile inflatable dome right next to your launch pad. Since you can’t point to a property line and say “stay behind that,” and it doesn’t physically interfere with your pad's use, you’re free to continue using your launch facilities, potentially roasting his dome in the process. In this case, it’s not a matter of property rights, but more about wisdom versus foolishness.
You can see that once humans actually start 'harvesting' and 'enhancing' space resources, property laws will evolve rapidly. They haven’t yet… but the core legal framework is clear: Mars 'belongs' to everyone—and therefore, in a practical sense, to no one.
This post originally appeared on Quora. Click here to view.
