The main obstacle to owning land on the Moon, or indeed any other celestial body, used to be that there was no legal system of property law, or indeed any law, on the Moon and thus no rights of ownership could be created. No right of ownership can be established without a legal system of property ownership in place. And for such a legal system to be put in place you need a properly functioning government.

The Kingdom of Tycho(TKoT) solves this problem, at least for the Moon, by establishing a legal system of land ownership under the government of the Sovereign of The Kingdom of Tycho. You can now legally buy, sell, claim and register your Lunar real estate.

However when most people ask “Can I Legally Own Land on the Moon?” they mean will the legal system of their country of residence recognize their ownership of land on the Moon and the short answer to that is “No”. But this is not really much different from the situation that exists with established, recognized countries. If you wish to own land in France, for instance, you go through the French legal system to buy that land. You don’t ask the government of one country for a title deed to land in the territory of another country. And similarly if you want to sell or mortgage your land, or if there is a dispute over ownership etc., you go through the legal system of the country where the land is, not the legal system of the country where you happen to live. Different countries have different laws regarding the ownership of land and the rights and obligations about what you can and can not do with your land.

What can happen is that the courts of one country can acknowledge the ownership of property in another country as part of a legal settlement between parties, say in apportioning assets under a divorce settlement. However this is not legally giving title to the property merely acknowledging that it exists.

The Kingdom of Tycho has no recognition from any existing Earth based country so the legal titles given by The Kingdom of Tycho are unlikely to be upheld by any other country’s legal system. So at the moment obtaining a title deed from The Kingdom of Tycho is no guarantee that the legal system of your country will recognize your ownership of your Lunar real estate. Owning or claiming land on the Moon is very much a speculative activity. And as with all gambling do not gamble more than you can afford to lose, no matter how much you might support our goal of space settlement.

Gold said that the great irony of space is that the technology has never been the limiting factor. “It’s a matter of politics. It’s a matter of financing. And those two challenges are much, much worse than any engineering issue that will arise.”

This is something that I have long believed. We have had the technology to go to the moon, and hence the ability to settle the moon, for forty years. The only limiting factors have been the cost and the will to do it.

With that thought in mind I have, despite the fact that it is now the first week in February, I have decided to continue my new year’s resolution of making the TKoT website a commercial, money making, project. And so I am changing the design of the site to include Google Adsense ads. Not because I think that Adsense ads will provide enough money to finance TKoT’s plans to settle the moon, but because they are relatively easy to implement and they are a start.

In January, 1967 the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies(The Outer Space Treaty) was opened for signature. The Outer Space Treaty forms the basis of all international space law. And while is has stood the test of time (mainly because space activities have not advanced one iota in the past 40 years) and espouses many noble sentiments (as many international treaties do), The Kingdom of Tycho can not subscribe to this treaty, nor consider itself to be constrained by it.
Here is a summary of the main points in the Outer Space Treaty, and my response to those points:

1. the exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries and shall be the province of all mankind;
   A noble sentiment indeed, but one that I fundamentally disagree with. I believe that the exploration and use of outer space should be carried out for the benefit, and in the interests of, those people who want to go and live in outer space; that is those people who are prepared to go and do the exploring and make use of what they find. Those who want to stay on Earth are free to explore and use what they find there.
2. outer space shall be free for exploration and use by all States;
   From the point of view of the 1960’s cold war mind-set this makes sense. If all one is going to do is send a couple of guys up in a capsule to whiz around in circles for a few days, or weeks, then it makes sense that any country that wants a “space program” should be allowed to develop one.However remove yourself from that 40 year old mind-set and you realise that once celestial bodies become property it is up the owners of that property to decide who explores and what use is made of their property, not any Earth bound government.
3. outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means;
   I actually support this provision of the Treaty, as long as it is applied solely to earthly states, especially those that have signed the Outer Space Treaty. I do not believe that any country on Earth has the right to make any extraterrestrial claim of ownership or sovereignty. Those of us who go and live off Earth have the right to form our own governments and rule ourselves, free form any interference form Earthly powers.
   If you try to apply this provision to The Kingdom of Tycho you will see that it denies our right to exist. However we do exist and we are not going away, so the international community will have to get used to us.
   This provision, and its denial of our right to exist, could be the cause of conflict between The Kingdom of Tycho and Earthly governments. It could in some interpretations even be considered a declaration of war on The Kingdom of Tycho.
   However as The Kingdom of Tycho is not bound by The Outer Space Treaty we feel we are not in any conflict with any Earthly power over our “national appropriation” of our Sovereign Territory.
4. States shall not place nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit or on celestial bodies or station them in outer space in any other manner;
   A very noble sentiment, but one that, in my opinion, does not far enough. I believe that no state should place nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction anywhere, either in space or on Earth. I believe that all weapons of mass destruction should be destroyed. However I do not believe that this will ever happen. One can not close “Pandora’s Box”, once such weapons have been invented they can not be un-invented.
   The Kingdom of Tycho has no weapons of mass destruction, and has no plans to acquire or develop any such weapons.
5. the Moon and other celestial bodies shall be used exclusively for peaceful purposes;
   Another noble sentiment, but all of human history teaches us that where people go, strife, conflict and wars go as well.
   So while The Kingdom of Tycho is a peace loving country with no disputes or conflicts with any other country, we reserve the right to defend ourselves by all means necessary. And in the belief that the better prepared we are for war, the less likely it is to happen, we will develop our armed forces as we see fit.
6. astronauts shall be regarded as the envoys of mankind;
   A diplomatic clause meant to ensure that if, through accident or mishap, an astronaut from one country were to land in the territory of another they should be treated as visiting ambassadors, rather than being shot as spies.
   Again the mind-set has to change. The Kingdom of Tycho does not consist solely of Astronauts, or astronaut want-to-bes, competing for the nation prestige of cold war superpowers. We have citizens who are real normal people, with normal jobs and families, who want the challenge, and excitement, and satisfaction of making a new life on a new planet.
7. States shall be responsible for national space activities whether carried out by governmental or non-governmental activities;
   This once again reflects the mind-set of the superpowers during the cold war; all space programs are government space programs; and even if it is a private enterprise that owns the space object, its launch and operation is subject to government control. And until the present time this has been pretty much the case with either the rocket launcher or the space object, or both being owned by a government ; and the facilities used to launch objects into outer space are all government owned.
   How this provision can be continued in a era where private firms are preparing to launch privately owned space craft from private space ports is yet to be decided.
8. States shall be liable for damage caused by their space objects; and States shall avoid harmful contamination of space and celestial bodies.
   The first part I can almost agree with. If a State owns a “space object” that causes damage then it is liable for any damage to property. If, on the other hand, an object is owned by a private individual, or corporation, etc., then the owner(s) of the object should be held liable for damages.
   The second part I fundamentally disagree with. The “contamination of space” is the main reason for the existence of The Kingdom of Tycho. At the moment the surface of the moon is virtually untouched by the hand of man, it is in its natural state. We intend to change that. We will build towns and cities, space ports and railroads, factories and mines, and leave our mark on the face of the moon; just as mankind has left its mark on every square inch of the surface of planet Earth.

While the Outer Space Treaty was progressive and forward-looking for its time (when the cold war was at its height) the mind-set of those who negotiated and signed it could not even begin comprehend the concept of an entity such as The Kingdom of Tycho. And as such it is outdated and unenforceable in the modern world.

Thirdly we have The Sovereign of The Kingdom of Tycho. Under the constitution of The Kingdom of Tycho, the Sovereign is an elected position that any citizen may be elected to. The Sovereign is elect to represent the entire Kingdom and to govern the Kingdom in broad concurrence with the entire citizenship of the Kingdom. Currently Declan Stanley is the Sovereign. But if Declan resigns, or dies, then someone else will be elected to be Sovereign, it is a legal entity independent of Declan.

When Declan, as the Sovereign, makes a proclamation, or attends an official function, he is expressing the will of the people of the Kingdom, and representing the entire Kingdom in his official capacity as Sovereign, rather than stating just his own personal views, or attending as a private individual.

Usually when Declan speaks or posts to this web site he is expressing his own personal opinion and this should not be confused with the official opinion of the Sovereign

However, it should be noted that, Declan’s personal opinion does have a great influence on the official opinion of the Sovereign.

• Declan Stanley made a public claim to own the land that forms the territory of The Kingdom of Tycho.
  
• In the absence of any other country claiming ownership of this land he then claimed status as an independent country.
  
• Having declared himself King he then declared the constitution, which turned the country into a democracy.