FAQ's - Land Claims Recognition (LCR)
Space Settlement Initiative website where answers are provided. A set of additional FAQ's is provided at the bottom of this page as well. A draft of a land claims recognition bill ready for consideration by Congress is posted here .
What is the real purpose of enacting a land claims recognition law? Will promising property rights be enough to produce the necessary investment in developing affordable space transport? What does international law say about private property ownership in space? Can there be property ownership without national sovereignty? What if other nations refuse to recognize land claims in space? Why not give smaller, limited land grants for easier steps than settlement? Could lunar land really be worth enough money to make a difference? What conditions should the U.S. set for recognition of a claim? How much land should a settlement be able to claim...and why? Why must the space line and settlement be open to all paying passengers regardless of nationality? Wouldn't it help if a major company announced that, if a land claims recognition law were passed, it would try to develop affordable space transport? Are the weaknesses and compromises in this plan likely to be permanent? Didn't the earliest version of this plan talk about "Lunar land grants"? Why aren't you using that phrase any more? Did land grants work? You can't farm Lunar land, and Earth doesn't need its minerals. So how could Lunar land be put to profitable use? If you can't give figures, now, proving the profitability of the end uses of Lunar land, how could anyone raise big money for Lunar land? Could other sources of revenue be enough, without land claims recognition? What if the settlement does not produce enough operating revenue to pay off its debts and make a profit? Could this law produce a new "space race"? Why is U.S. legislation, in particular, so important? Could the U.S. withdraw from the Outer Space Treaty, claim national sovereignty on the Moon, then award property rights to whomever it pleased? What about defense? Does recognizing a land claim obligate the U.S. military to defend the settlement? What effect would this have on NASA and the aerospace companies? Who came up with this idea?
Additional FAQ's
The following are links to additional FAQ's.
