Efficient Allocation of Property Rights on the Planet Mars

Abstract

This paper examines the need to foster competition in the exploration of the solar system through the motivation of private profit, in contrast to the concepts of communal ownership of space resources as expressed in international treaty law. this paper draws upon recent US governmental policy outlining the objective of exploring and ultimately colonizing the planet Mars. This paper suggests a principle of geographically limited ownership on the Mars based on the historic concept of first possession.

Keywords: Space Law, Mars, Property