Who owns the moon?

Moon race, treaties, private companies: what international law really says. Since 1967, international law has forbidden any State from appropriating the Moon. But with the return of lunar missions and the arrival of private companies, the question of resources is reigniting the debate.

By Mélanie Jamain | Published on October 25, 2026

As China and the United States compete over the exploration and exploitation of the Moon, the second space race is accelerating. Major powers are rivaling each other in deploying missions and satellites, raising a central question: Who owns the Moon? Does it belong to a State, or is it unappropriable?

Some may remember Dennis Hope, who proclaimed himself owner of the Moon in 1980, or Gru from Despicable Me, who shrinks the Moon to hold it in the palm of his hand. In that popular animated film, the Moon seems to belong to him. Reality, however, is quite different.

Space law is a branch of international law. It governs relations between States and international organizations, such as the UN, as well as their activities in space, including on the Moon and other celestial bodies. These international spaces are governed by multilateral treaties.

The Outer Space Treaty, which entered into force in 1967 and is joined today by over 115 States, is the cornerstone of this space order. Its Article I stipulates that "outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall be free for exploration and use by all States without discrimination of any kind, on a basis of equality and in accordance with international law, and there shall be free access to all areas of celestial bodies." Article II goes further: no State may appropriate the Moon by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means. In other words, the Moon has no owner, and every State can explore and use it for the common interest. The Moon Agreement, adopted in 1979, added another piece to the puzzle by declaring that the Moon and its natural resources are the common heritage of mankind and prohibiting any national or private appropriation. The Moon is thus considered a universal good, intended for peaceful use.

However, the Moon Agreement has not been ratified by any major spacefaring power: neither the United States, Russia, nor China are parties to it. It is therefore practically inapplicable to these players. To bridge this legal ambiguity, the United States launched the Artemis Accords, a set of political principles governing the civil exploration of the Moon, Mars, and asteroids.

As for national regulations, France provides a particularly clear framework. According to the CNES, the Space Operations Act (LOS), adopted in 2008 and fully applicable since 2010, subjects activities conducted by French operators to State authorization and supervision. The combination of this law and its accompanying technical regulations makes this national legislation a reference point at both European and international levels.

But what about private actors? Does Elon Musk have the right to build a factory on the Moon? According to Articles 6 and 7 of the Outer Space Treaty, private companies can only act with the authorization and under the continuous supervision of their State, which remains internationally responsible for their activities. If a company operates without this framework, the State incurs international responsibility.

A gray area remains: who owns extracted resources? In 2015, the United States, followed by Luxembourg in 2017, adopted laws recognizing their companies' ownership of resources they might extract from the Moon or asteroids. Other countries view this as a circumvention of the non-appropriation ban set by the Outer Space Treaty.

The status of the commercial exploitation of the Moon is thus the subject of fierce academic debate, and some legal ambiguities remain to be resolved. But one thing is certain: the Moon belongs to no one.