Who did, does and will outer space belong to?

Willem-Alexander became King of the Netherlands in 2013. But out in space, is there a king or an emperor, or some other ruler?

Outer Space Treaty

No one rules outer space – not a king, nor an emperor, admiral, president or general.

Outer space doesn’t belong to anyone.

The Outer Space Treaty was signed in 1967. In it, the countries of the world pledge that outer space will remain free forever. And that they will not try to claim ownership of any part of outer space.

The Outer Space Treaty sounds good on paper – but will everyone stick to its rules? In the future, it’s likely that companies and countries will attempt to claim parts of planets and asteroids for themselves, to mine valuable metals and make lots of money, among other things. In 2015, for example, US President Barack Obama signed alaw allowing US companies and citizens to own and sell raw materials harvested from outer space.

Interstellar wars

Who knows what’s going on billions of light years from here? Maybe outer space is carved into territories, and robots wage interstellar wars for control of planets and stars.

But that’s pure speculation. As far as we know, outer space basically doesn’t belong to anyone. And therefore to everyone. To Willem-Alexander, and also to you!

Answered by Sebastiaan van de Water