Appropriation in outer space: the relationship between land ownership and,sovereignty on the celestial bodies

This article analyses the impact of the non-appropriation principle of the Outer SpaceTreaty over landed property rights on the celestial bodies, prov ing that, while appropriation of land may exist outside the sphere of sover eignty, its survival is dependent upon endorsement from a sovereign entity. A State endorsment would violate the non-appropriation principle, and abro gation of this principle would be both undesirable and unlikely to happen. The only sovereign entity entitled to manage and to endorse extraterrestria l real estate is the whole international community assembled in the UN, hol ding extraterrestrial real estate in trust for the benefit of the humankind . (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.