NudeGlass

Someday, a country, corporation or individual will test its limits, and the dispute will be settled in the International Court of Justice, Permanent Court of Arbitration or by some other peaceful means. Such negotiations only constitute a stopgap measure, however; commercial pressure will ultimately carry corporate concerns to the cosmos, and no law or principle precludes the eventual exploitation of outer space by private parties. Derogation means the partial repeal or diminishment of a law. Outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means. Can you stake a claim to any part of a planet, asteroid or other celestial body, or exploit its resources for profit? As we’ll see, such legal realities haven’t stopped people from laying claim to the moon, or from selling it off one acre at a time. There was a time when claiming to be the King of the Moon would have la...