Space - International Law / Who owns space?

MaggieFirst countries, now companies are trying to get into space but can they keep what they find up there? As more people aim for the stars, we ll show how the law is ahead of them. Could any country ever take over another planet?

In general, the International Space law works in a manner, where if if you keep somebody else out, then the other person would probably keep you out as well.

And the new space race is on . but what can companies actually own from space.

America landed the first man on the Moon, why didn t he just say it was US property?

Russia became the first state to send someone to Mars, what would stop them owning it?

One thing the Outer Space Treaty signed by more than a hundred countries. It says no county can claim any part of outer space space belongs to every nation.

But in 2020, eight countries signed the Artemis Accords. They re an agreement between governments who are taking part in the Artemis Program an American led effort to land on the Moon. But not everyone is happy.

India, and even big companies are blasting off into space. So how does the law help decide who owns what they find up there?

Commercial space lawyer Deepika Jeyakodi explained what the first major bit of space law the Outer Space Treaty - says about what countries can own in space.

JeyakodiThere's one article which says that the Moon, and the celestial bodies in outer space are free for exploration and use and then there's another article that says that no country can stake a claim in space, you cannot appropriate a portion of space. So although you can use things the structures that you build on the Moon, or a celestial body, you cannot really claim to own the territory in which you put this.