Who Owns the Moon?

This work investigates the permissibility and viability of property rights on the – lestial bodies, particularly the extraterrestrial aspects of land and mineral resources ownership. In lay terms, it aims to ?nd an answer to the question “Who owns the Moon?” The ?rst chapter critically analyses and dismantles with legal arguments the issue of sale of extraterrestrial real estate, after having perused some of the trivial claims of celestial bodies ownership. The only consequence these claims have on the plane of space law is to highlight the need for a better regulation of extraterrestrial landed property rights. Next, thebook addresses theapparent silenceofthelawinthe?eldofextraterr- trial landed property, scrutinizing whether the factual situation on the extraterrestrial realms calls for legal regulations. The sources of law are examined in their dual dimension – that is, the facts that have caused and shaped the law of extraterrestrial real estate, and the norms which express this law. It is found that the norms and rules regarding property rights in the celestial realms are rather limited, failing to de?ne basic concepts such as celestial body.

Author Biography

Virgiliu Pop is a researcher at the Romanian Space Agency and is one of world’s specialists in the area of space property rights. A member of the International Institute of Space Law, Virgiliu has authored several acclaimed papers in the field of space law and policy, and was interviewed by prestigious media outlets as diverse as New Scientist, Space.com/MSNBC, The Space Show, La Tercera (Chile), Ta Nea (Greece), Geo Magazine (Germany) and several publications in his native Romania.