The Outer Space Treaty that was signed in 1967, clearly states the fact that no government whatsoever has the power of owning a celestial object or any part of the space. This treaty was signed by 100 countries, including those that, at the time, had a space programme. Although, this rule (obviously) applies to individuals and corporations, there were some people who were able to “trick the system”. One example would be the American businessman Dennis Hope who, since 1995 has sold more than 611 million acres of land on the moon. Here, we can also include Richard Garriott, a videogame developer who managed to do another impossible thing: while attending an auction, he acquired the Russian Lunokhod 2 rover that is currently on the Moon, for the insignificant sum of $68,500. This means that he can legally claim at least a part of the surface of the Moon.
Another attempt was made in 1979, when the Moon Treaty was supposed to offer a solution regarding the problem of legal ownership of space objects. Needless to say, it was unsuccessful. This treaty started to gain popularity in 2014 when it was ratified by 16 countries.
Apparently, space ownership is a very important thing, although, at first, it may not seem so and. This happens mostly because the legal aspect is rather ambiguous and because space is commercially valuable. But if you want to impress your loved one, we recommend you to buy a star. Don’t believe us? Try searching it on Google. It is legal (and very romantic!) to buy a star and to name it. Just imagine that!
