Can you buy land on Moon? Details on legalities and possibilities here

The sudden demise of Sushant Singh Rajput has left the country speechless. As many stories unfold, Sushant was a natural genius whose expertise not only relied on his entertainment career but he was supremely intelligent with the knowledge about Quantum Physics, Stoicism, astrology, and more. The recent news revealed that the actor owns land on the Moon which has led to a boom in searches related to how to buy land on Moon and if a person can buy land on Moon. However, the question still remains, can you buy land on Moon? Is it possible? Is it legal? We have summarized everything about it here.

Can you buy land on Moon?

As many people are thinking about owning a piece of land on the Moon, it is a matter of concern because it is considered to be illegal to sell lunar land to anyone. It was in 1967, when three big countries, the Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom came up with an international treaty, called the Outer Space Treaty, which is supposed to be followed and upheld by all nations. There were 109 other countries, including India who signed the treaty.

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As per the Treaty, "outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means". This prevents all the member countries from using outer space in any business activities. However, there are people, including Sushant Singh Rajput who reportedly bought a piece of lunar land. Sushant's land on the moon is called the Mare Muscoviense or the ‘Sea of Muscovy’. There is a Lunar Land Registry portal that allegedly assures people to sell them a piece of Lunar land.

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For all the people who say that they own a part of Lunar land are claiming the property in compliance with Title IV of the Space Resource Exploration and Utilization Act of 2015, Section 402 in the USA, which states: "A U.S. citizen engaged in commercial recovery of an asteroid resource or a space resource shall be entitled to any asteroid resource or space resource obtained, including to possess, own, transport, use, and sell it according to applicable law, including U.S. international obligations". Non-U.S. citizens may possess Lunar property and resources by contracting a proxy (agent) with U.S. citizenship or commercial rights. However, as per several reports, this bill was never passed in the US parliament.

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Nevertheless, for the question of "Can you buy land on Moon?" is No, as the International treaty essentially states that all forms of outer space exploration (which includes lunar exploration) would be for the benefit of all mankind. It also explicitly states that no individual can purchase a piece of lunar land and call it his or her own. This means Lunar Land Registry and buying land for private ownership of the moon is impossible and illegal, as per the Outer Space Treaty of several nations. But, there are still agencies like The Lunar Registry who are allegedly selling the celestial land and we know a few Indians like Rajeev V Bagdhi and Sushant Singh Rajput who have bought the lunar land from such portals.

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