YES! It really is. The UN is getting ever more worried about it but can’t seem to stop it. All space faring nations admit that space militarization is imminent, based on the need to protect space assets and project power. Its a very quick, slippery slope to nuclear weaponization. Once we have nukes lurking just above our heads its too late (maybe just 400 km up, not 4000+ as they are now). You see there is some sense in “mutally assured destruction” (M.A.D – the current 50 year nuclear stand-off between superpowers)… but when nuclear weapons are only 400km above our heads there are new rules to apply. That’s why the USA (and Russia too) pushed so hard for a Space Treaty in the mid 1960’s. They knew that if nuclear weapons got into space there would be an overwhelming (complete) military advantage in taking the “First Strike”… no time for a response… Game Over!

• For more detail on this dangerous matter, click HERE.

No!… not any more. The Treaty (OST) is the only proper law covering space activity, but is actually more of a set of principles. The wording is deliberately loose to enable acceptance by all and for future space activity to further shape it. But the wording against nuclear weaponization is actually pretty strong, so to date it has protected us. Sadly, the shaping (or rather bending) of the Treaty’s laws is following the chosen path of the mighty space faring nations, seeking commercial and military dominion in space. It has been badly clipped back by the exciting new national laws which permit space mining and ownership of resources. It is being further eroded by advanced plans for militarization and weaponization (all parties want to “protect their assets”). The Space Treaty provides only for “peaceful use” of celestial land and space. It bans military installations and weapons testing. Yet all space nations are now seeking to “peacefully weaponize” space and have been practicing the destruction of satellites using missiles from Earth (latest one being India).

The main strength of the 53 year old Treaty was against aggressive weaponization and land grabbing … it is still clinging on but is now much weakened on those two key matters. Note also, these days the powerful nations are happy to rip up existing treaties if they don’t suit them: the USA and Russia pulled out of the INF nuclear treaty and already there are related new weapons being developed. The Space Treaty can be dropped by any signatory nation with just one year’s notice. Unfortunately, although previously seen as strong against weapons, it makes no effective provision for space exploitation (commerce, mining etc). Thus it has been seen as “bad for business”… such that space faring nations have resorted to fixing their own laws instead. Meanwhile, the UN shuffles it’s feet and worries… but can’t seem to make things better. COPUOS (Committee for Peaceful Uses of Outer Space) needs to be stung into action with the same sense of urgency and cohesion that it had in 1967 when the OST was born.

Well, despite the imminent weaponization of space and the progressive weakening of the Outer Space Treaty (OST), the UN still fails to gather itself into cohesive effort. It realises that a fit-for-purpose legal regime is required, but cant seem to agree how. Thus the old Outer Space Treaty is all that there is between peaceful security and nuclear weapons lurking over our heads. It is obvious that when a UN committee can only move forward with consensus (100%), it will require quite a JOLT to get it moving. Now, when aggressive space weaponization is realised, the resultant sense of fear may provide that much needed jolt… but that really is too late… once we start weaponizing Earth’s orbit, we’re most unlikely to ever reverse that decision.

In the absence of aggressive aliens, there is no sensible justification for space based weaponry… just a whole lot of risk.

Once the state delegations at UN (COPUOS) realise that we really are in early factual possession  of land on Mars (and have been for nearly 12 years), they will be somewhat shocked… if not immediately, certainly after we agree a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a space industry (transport) partner.

Independent expert legal opinion is that our activities are legal and the claim is valid.  Within current Space Law, we cannot yet convert that possession into ownership … but expert legal opinion states that if/when the law does evolve to tolerate such celestial property rights, our claim should be ‘first-in-line.’

Not only will that cause unrest at COPUOS, it will attract world media attention (from Summer 2021 onwards). During every encounter with fascinated media, Dr Phil Davies (Founder & director) will highlight the plight of the Outer Space Treaty (OST) and the fact that we are all sleepwalking towards a near future of aggressive weaponization in the orbital space, just 350km above our heads. He will stress the urgent need for a limited ‘Top-Up Treaty’ to strengthen and expand the existing OST, such that space commerce is facilitated, aggressive weaponization is barred, and debris is managed/mitigated.

Hopefully all that will jolt the committee (COPUOS) into prompt  action on space law. But even if that falls on deaf ears, the full realisation of our claim might just save the day.

If our claim ultimately proves successful, the legal title to land on Mars will be awarded to All Mankind (to be held in trust by a UN committee), with beneficial ownership title going to our co-claimants (or their family descendants if this happens 150 years in future). A space user group will govern the responsible exploitation of land on Mars. Representation on that space-user group is only open to those space-faring nations who have ratified the new @Top-Up Space Treaty.’

The full realisation of our claim will lead to vibrant, responsible space commerce with peace and stability for us all.

• For detailed info on this go to our Legal section.

So that is certainly possible, but not yet probable. We can do a lot now to maximize our chances.

The claim is entirely legitimate. Our fund raising (for upcoming legal costs) is also legitimate (we are selling Mars Land Claims, not deeds, for less than 1 cent per 2 acres). International law applies to space also (see Article III of OST). On the basis of some high profile national acquisitions of new land during the last 100 years, International Law provides guidance for the likely proof requirement to justify actual possession (= effective occupation) of difficult, distant, barren land. Compared to the requirements to acquire lush, fertile lands (actual human settlement and proven trade), the acquisition of such poor quality land requires a much lower level of actual human involvement… indeed, settlement is not an absolute requirement.

Our persistent use of high power lasers (applied to Mars) does have a very (very) small beneficial effect on planetary conditions (with a view to future terraforming). This, together with extensive administrative/governance plans, gives our claim a fair degree of credibility when held against the requirements in International Law (but this only becomes truly relevant whenever the law evolves to tolerate celestial property rights).

So, we are saying that once space law evolves to tolerate such celestial land ownership, our claim should be first-in-line for consideration (legal expert advice agrees with this). Now, although technically correct, our claim of possession is not particularly strong.

We can enhance the strength by building a massive membership (currently we have 180,000 co-claimants): we are aiming for 5 Million members. We will advise all co-claimants to encourage there family descendants to engage, wherever feasible, with manned missions to Mars. Funds depending, we aim to award bundles of annual scholarships (and bursaries) in ‘Space Studies’ to appropriate applicants within our members families. Thus, we will be enable the ‘production’ of future astronauts and space engineers from within our membership.

As stated in the previous answer, the full realisation of our claim requires a small shift in the law … then we could see the legal title to celestial land going to All Mankind (held by UN in trust) and the beneficial ownership title going to all our co-claimants. This will be delivered via a unique Declaration of Trust (Trust Mars). It will also see the formation of a Space-User governence group and the ratification of a binding new space law – to reinforce and enhance the Outer Space Treaty concerning weapons and debris.

All this is described in our pivotal document, The Celestial Land Use benefit (CLUB) Plan:  CLUB-PLAN

• For detailed info on this go to our Legal Section

Not really… it’s certainly unconventional, but we are pretty grounded, circumspect folks here.

We have a practicing doctor and ex- senior military officer in the team. We are generally relaxed and sport loving. It took a lively conversation in a Whistler (B.C) ski bar (Jan 2010) to get us interested in all this.

Once we fully appreciated the horrible danger that space weaponization posed (as opposed to super-fun StarWars), we then realized that the Outer Space Treaty was the ONLY thing really stopping nuclear weaponization of space… and it was now being marginalized because it did nothing to facilitate space commerce (mining etc). So it was, and still is, seen as bad for business and we recognized that it’s days were numbered unless the UN could properly update it.

Unfortunately, as expected, the UN paid no heed to our lobbying, petitioning and encouragement. COPUOS continues to slowly progress the concept of fluffy non-binding soft law (and actually, not much of that either). The OST is on the ropes.

Space faring nations can now pretty much shape the space laws to suit their needs. Its exciting, certainly … but with the arrival of weapons it’s going to get very dangerous… SOON (within 10 years).

Two of the strongest articles in the OST, art II (non appropriation) and art VI (non aggression) will progressively decline under the weight of state practice and national legislation.  Within 10-20 years we will have “dual use” space equipment, with nuclear components  (which can quickly become weaponized), stalking us from above.

Through world media exposure and the propagation of our Mars Land Claim, we aim to instigate cohesive action at the UN (COPUOS) to deliver a vital top-up Space Treaty.

YES…we do.
The US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act (2015) has breathed new life into space exploration and will ultimately facilitate an exciting commercial future in space. With much improved investor confidence, we now have major non-gov companies spending billions in the development of new space tech. Such technological advances are almost certain to have hugely beneficial applications on Earth, thus helping all humanity.

Whilst we truly support the US in all of this, we do want US State Dep’t to show responsible world leadership. They have to acknowledge that their new national law does reduce the authority of the OST. They should admit that fact and show leadership in their efforts to update existing International Space Law accordingly.

“Peaceful militarization” of space (which is imminent) will further squeeze the old Treaty. All space faring nations are in on this…

USA should come forward with genuine efforts to liaise with the Russians, Chinese, India and ESA, in order to add further space law to the weakened OST, and therefore maintain that international legal strength against aggressive weaponization in space (esp nukes).

Finally, although we really respect and understand the US fear of UN regulation, we can imagine a more nimble, savvy, pro-business version of the Seabed Authority, which could administer a light touch governance to matters of celestial exploitation.

We should not fear light governance and even some regulation, especially when it comes to the matter of space debris…

All of you … all humanity!

We have sent out emails (containing voucher codes for Free Mars Claims) to the national governments and media sources in every single country of the world. Really, we have.

We are giving away hundreds of thousands of recorded Mars Land Claims – to be awarded equitably (and for free) beween all nations.

Obviously we are also fundraising for our expected legal costs, hence the tiny fees for saver and standard claims (less than 1cent for 10 acres claimed).

With buoyant interest in our venture, we find that these small fees are adding up nicely, such that we can now enter the national legal appraisal phase (in order to gain entry to International Court).

So, to the people of every nation, come to us, follow us (Twitter/FB) and JOIN US!

• Thinking about staking a claim and joining THE MARTIANS? … for more info, click HERE.