Are lunar deeds sold online legally binding?

No. A lunar deed is a novelty document. It is not registered with any land authority, it is not recognised by any legal system, and it cannot be enforced, inherited as property, insured, or used as collateral. Sellers are generally not breaking the law by selling them, because they are sold as novelties, but the document itself conveys nothing.

What about the loophole that the treaty only binds governments?

It does not work. The argument is that Article II of the Outer Space Treaty forbids countries from claiming the Moon but says nothing about individuals. Article VI closes that gap: states are internationally responsible for the space activities of their own citizens and companies, and must authorise and continuously supervise them. A private claim would therefore need a state to authorise it, and no state can authorise what Article II forbids it to do itself.

Can you own resources mined from the Moon?

That is a genuinely different question and the answer is less settled. The United States passed a law in 2015 allowing its citizens to own resources they extract from a celestial body, and the Artemis Accords take a similar position. Both are careful to distinguish extracted resources from the territory itself, and neither claims sovereignty over lunar ground. Owning a rock you have mined is not the same as owning the place you mined it from.

So is a Moon land gift a scam?

Not if it is sold honestly. The problem is not the gift, it is the wording. A seller who calls it a deed, a title, or real estate, or who implies it will be worth something one day, is misleading the buyer. A seller who describes it as a commemorative collectible and a symbolic pledge is describing exactly what it is, and that can be a lovely thing to give.

What does ExplOrbit sell, then?

A personalised Moon conservation certificate and a named territory recorded in our own public registry, presented as a gift package. It is a commemorative collectible and a stewardship pledge. It does not convey legal or sovereign ownership of any part of the Moon, and we state that on the certificate, in our terms, and on this page.

ExplOrbit — Plain Answers

Is buying land on the Moon real?

No.No person, company, or country can own land on the Moon. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty, joined by more than a hundred countries including the United States, Russia, and China, says the Moon is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by use or occupation, or by any other means. No government or court anywhere recognises private title to lunar land, which means every lunar “deed” sold online is a novelty document with no legal force.

We sell one of those novelty documents. We think you should know exactly what it is before you buy it, from us or from anyone else.

The short answer

Nobody owns the Moon, and nobody can sell it to you

There is no lunar land registry. There is no authority that issues title, no court that would hear a dispute over a lunar plot, and no insurer that would underwrite one. A lunar deed cannot be enforced, cannot be used as collateral, and is not property that passes to your heirs. It is a printed certificate.

That is not a technicality waiting to be resolved. It is the settled position of international space law, and it has been for more than half a century.

What the treaty says

The Outer Space Treaty, 1967

The governing document is the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies. Article II is the relevant line, and it is short:

“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.”

The phrase that does the work is or by any other means. The drafters were closing the door on every mechanism by which land on Earth had historically been claimed: planting a flag, arriving first, settling, or simply declaring it.

A later agreement, the 1979 Moon Agreement, went further and declared the Moon the common heritage of mankind. It matters much less in practice, because almost no spacefaring nation ratified it. The 1967 treaty is the one that binds the countries that actually go there.

The loophole that is not one

“The treaty only binds governments”

This is the argument every lunar land seller relies on. Article II forbids national appropriation, so the reasoning goes that a private individual is not covered and may therefore claim what a government cannot.

It falls down on the next page of the same treaty. Article VI makes each state internationally responsible for the space activities of its own citizens and companies, and requires that those activities be authorised and continuously supervised by that state. A private lunar claim would need a government to authorise and stand behind it. No government can do that, because Article II forbids it from acquiring the territory in the first place. A claim nobody can authorise is not a claim.

The best-known lunar land business has been selling plots since 1980 on the strength of having sent a claim to the United Nations and received no reply. Silence is not consent, and no court has ever treated it as such.

What you actually receive

A certificate, and a record in a private registry

When you buy Moon land from anyone, what arrives is a document with your name on it and a set of coordinates, plus an entry in a registry that the seller runs themselves. That registry has exactly as much authority as the company maintaining it, which is to say none outside its own records.

This is worth understanding rather than being disappointed by, because it is also true of many things people genuinely treasure. A star name, a dedication plaque, a commemorative deed to a square foot of somewhere: none of them are property either. What they are is a keepsake attached to a gesture.

The dishonesty is not in selling the keepsake. It is in calling it real estate.

Is it still a good gift?

Yes, if it is sold to you honestly

A child who is handed a certificate with their name, a set of real lunar coordinates, and a map showing where their territory sits is not being defrauded. They are being given a reason to look up. That is a good gift, and it has been the actual appeal all along.

The test is simple. Read the seller's own words. If they use “deed”, “title”, “own”, or “real estate” without qualification, or suggest the plot may appreciate in value, they are selling you a belief they know to be false. If they tell you plainly that it is commemorative, they are selling you the keepsake and letting you decide what it is worth.

How ExplOrbit differs

We sell a pledge, not a plot

ExplOrbit records a symbolic conservation territory in your name and issues a personalised Certificate of Stewardship. The framing is the whole difference: you are not being told you own ground, you are making a pledge to leave it alone.

Our disclaimer is not in the small print. It is on the certificate itself, in the footer of every page of this site, in our terms, and in the structured data this page publishes to search engines. Every certificate number can be checked by anyone in our public registry, and each territory is recorded once and then permanently retired from sale.

If you would rather read why we think the Moon is worth pledging to protect at all, that is set out in our conservation brief.

One package: a named territory, a personalised certificate, and a box of collectibles to go with it.

See what is in the package

Common questions

Straight answers

Is buying land on the Moon real?: No. No person, company, or country can own land on the Moon. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which more than a hundred countries including the United States, Russia, and China have joined, states that the Moon is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by use or occupation, or by any other means. No government or court anywhere recognises private title to lunar land, so a lunar "deed" has no legal force.
Are lunar deeds sold online legally binding?: No. A lunar deed is a novelty document. It is not registered with any land authority, it is not recognised by any legal system, and it cannot be enforced, inherited as property, insured, or used as collateral. Sellers are generally not breaking the law by selling them, because they are sold as novelties, but the document itself conveys nothing.
What about the loophole that the treaty only binds governments?: It does not work. The argument is that Article II of the Outer Space Treaty forbids countries from claiming the Moon but says nothing about individuals. Article VI closes that gap: states are internationally responsible for the space activities of their own citizens and companies, and must authorise and continuously supervise them. A private claim would therefore need a state to authorise it, and no state can authorise what Article II forbids it to do itself.
Can you own resources mined from the Moon?: That is a genuinely different question and the answer is less settled. The United States passed a law in 2015 allowing its citizens to own resources they extract from a celestial body, and the Artemis Accords take a similar position. Both are careful to distinguish extracted resources from the territory itself, and neither claims sovereignty over lunar ground. Owning a rock you have mined is not the same as owning the place you mined it from.
So is a Moon land gift a scam?: Not if it is sold honestly. The problem is not the gift, it is the wording. A seller who calls it a deed, a title, or real estate, or who implies it will be worth something one day, is misleading the buyer. A seller who describes it as a commemorative collectible and a symbolic pledge is describing exactly what it is, and that can be a lovely thing to give.
What does ExplOrbit sell, then?: A personalised Moon conservation certificate and a named territory recorded in our own public registry, presented as a gift package. It is a commemorative collectible and a stewardship pledge. It does not convey legal or sovereign ownership of any part of the Moon, and we state that on the certificate, in our terms, and on this page.

Sources

This page explains publicly available international law in general terms. It is written to be accurate and useful, not to be legal advice, and it is not a substitute for advice from a qualified lawyer.