May 5, 2049

Moon Wars
By Staff Writer Michael Smith

Many people are disappointed to find out that their claims to moon ownership have been denied, and tensions between China and the U.S. (see today's Lunar Laughs) are mounting in light of two recent rulings by the International Institute of Space Law (IISL) in Vienna. Since 2030, the United Nations has given the IISL the legal right to interpret space law and to set policies for outer space. Yesterday, they released their findings in two cases involving ownership of the moon.

The first decision effectively declared all claims of moon ownership null and void. This finally and firmly ends the claims of Oscar M. Hope, grandson of Dennis Hope who, in 1980, claimed to own the moon and made millions of dollars selling documents of moon ownership. Hope had filed a lawsuit against Moonoco Power Company, claiming that they were mining on lunar land owned by his organization, the Lunar Embassy. The Institute refused to legally recognize these claims. (see related video)

Dennis Hope claimed to own the moon and made over 6.25 million US dollars selling lunar acreage in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

The Institute noted that Dennis Hope was not the first person to claim the moon. A Chilean lawyer named Jenaro Gajardo Vera claimed the moon in 1953. In 1955, Robert R. Coles, chairman of the Hayden Planetarium in New York, laid claim to the moon and sold parcels of it for one dollar. The town council of Geneva, Ohio, claimed the moon in 1966. None of these claims have been legally recognized, demonstrating that moon ownership cannot be established simply by claiming the moon.

The IISL also cited the 1967 United Nations Outer Space Treaty, which denies ownership of the moon to both governmental and non-governmental entities. This treaty was in effect when Hope made his original claim. The IISL decision establishes a principle that the moon is open to use by all, but will be owned by none. Those who had invested in moon ownership and had hoped to turn a profit now that the moon is being developed were bitterly disappointed by the Institute’s decision.

Also bitterly disappointed was the Chinese government which had asked the United Nations to ration the moon’s resources based on each country’s population. Citing the 1979 Moon Treaty which says that the “moon and its natural resources are the common heritage of mankind,” and calls for “an equitable sharing by all states parties in the benefits derived” from the moon’s resources, the Chinese had asked the UN to mandate that all recovered resources be divided among the nations of the world based on their current population. China, with the world’s largest population and a major energy crisis, had the most to gain from this plan.

Instead, the IISL declared that the 1979 treaty was not binding on any country that had not signed it. The decision also stated that while ownership of any part of the moon was not allowed, any party could mine its resources.

Scientists live and work on the moon in the thriving Helium-3 industry.

At the heart of the controversy are the helium-3 mines. Since 2022, when U.S. based Moonoco sent out its first mining expedition, more than 300 square miles of the moon surface have been mined producing almost 50 tons of helium-3 for use on Earth. That is enough energy to meet all U.S. energy needs for a few years. Helium-3 is used with deuterium to fuel fusion reactions that are much safer than the deuterium-tritium reactions they replaced. These reactions also produce much less radioactive waste.

Helium-3 is only available on the Earth in very small amounts. Like the more common helium-4, helium-3 comes from the sun and travels toward the Earth and moon as part of the solar wind. The Earth has a magnetic field that pushes away the helium-3, but the moon does not, so it has accumulated on the moon, mixed in with dust and moon rock. In order to extract the helium-3, automated mining machines use heat and agitation to release the gases trapped in the soil. The helium-3 is then separated from the helium-4 and other gases and collected for shipment back to Earth.

Moonoco opened the way for what has become a booming mining industry. Most of the companies are from the U.S., which has developed an extensive network of fusion plants to make use of the helium-3. The European Space Agency was slower to get in the act because of controversy over the 1979 Moon Treaty which prohibits the use of the moon resources by any government or non-governmental agency. France had signed the treaty and the Netherlands and Austria had actually ratified it. The U.S. never signed this agreement and did not feel bound by it. China had not signed the Moon Treaty but was slow in developing its helium-3 mining industry and was hoping to benefit from the industry the U.S. has developed.

The IISL decision to not require the sharing of moon resources will probably force China to develop its own mining capabilities. Meanwhile, Moonoco has been given the green light to continue to mine the moon, providing the precious helium-3 that is powering much of the United States.