In February 2022, the Adam Smith Institute published a report claiming that the moon should be privatized to help wipe out poverty on Earth. According to the report, the moon should be divided into parcels of land and assigned to various countries to rent out to businesses, which would boost space tourism, exploration, and discovery.

For now, thankfully, there is a treaty that stands in the way of such plans. The Outer Space Treaty was drawn up by the United Nations in 1967 with the idea to ban countries and individuals from owning property in space. It also forbids the militarization of outer space and bans weapons testing and military bases there.

The Adam Smith Institute maintains, however, that “with more countries and companies competing in the space race than ever before it’s vital for us to move past the outdated thinking of the 1960s and tackle the question of extraterrestrial property rights sooner than later.”