Dennis Hope: The man who sells land on the moon

Chandrayaan 3 is in the news since its historic moon landing and everyone has lauded India and her scientists for their extraordinary achievement for this success. It is the third Indian lunar exploration mission under the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s Chandrayaan program, and the first one ever in history to land on the South Pole of the moon. It consists of a lander named Vikram and a rover named Pragyan, similar to those of the Chandrayaan 2 mission.

Following the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the moon, several people have been questioning how one buys land on the moon, as many celebrities have done.

The moon has undoubtedly been a subject of great interest for people and the mega success of Chandrayaan-3 has piqued the curiosity of many to find new information and knowledge about the same. However, amidst all of the eagerness, there is a man by the name of Dennis Hope who has been selling land on the moon for quite some time now.

Dennis Hope- The man who “owns” the moon

A 75-year-old American entrepreneur and former car salesman named Dennis Hope declared himself the owner of the moon in 1980. His audacious and peculiar assertion provoked discussion, rebuke, and a fresh dialogue concerning international property rights on lunar territory. He is a businessman from Nevada and gained notoriety after he claimed that he was the proprietor of the moon.

Hope declared his ownership in 1980 and began working on a strategy to make use of his “property rights”. Dennis Hope is of the opinion that he has a right to claim the moon because there is no nation-state or governing organisation that could contest the validity of his authority.

Many have questioned how such a person could possibly own the moon or any other portion of it. Many concerns with regard to the potential exploitation of space resources and the legitimacy of ownership in the absence of international acknowledgement or regulation have been expressed by ethical experts.

Dennis Hope, who considers he can create fresh opportunities for international cooperation in advancing astronomical exploration is unfazed by these accusations.

Dennis Hope capitalising on the moon through a UN loophole

Dennis Hope had a revolutionary idea in 1980 which was to to sell lunar deeds. He founded the Lunar Embassy, an organisation dedicated to selling these documents for $19.95 per acre and taking ownership of the lunar surface in order to accomplish the same. This assertion was supported by a loophole in the 1967 United Nations Outer Space Treaty, which forbids any country from acquiring land in outer space.

He supported his position with letters informing all treaty signatories of his idea and the development of an official website. Additionally, he began marketing his company through several media channels.

Dennis Hope’s main goal was to use these documents to raise money for both personal wealth-building through real estate investments outside of our planet and further space exploration. He is unwavering in his quest to see moon property rights recognised on a worldwide scale, despite receiving conflicting responses.

How the “blind” transaction takes place

The Lunar Embassy Corporation has made $11 million through the sale of extraterrestrial property over the course of nearly four decades. A copy of the official certificate of ownership costs $2.50 in addition to $10 for shipping and handling along with $1.51 for planetary and lunar tax as well as $19.99 for one acre of lunar real estate.

Dennis Hope, the head of the firm, merely closes his eyes and selects at random a diagram of the moon to indicate which piece of lunar territory he wants to sell. The owner is then given photographs of their just acquired property, but these images are only accessible after a completed point of sale. The area is then coloured red to indicate that it is no longer available.

Dennis Hope maintained that millions of individuals worldwide, including celebrities like Barbara Walters, Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Nicole Kidman, and former presidents Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, and George W. Bush own more than 600 acres of land on the moon. Each owner is given a certificate and the right to vote in any moon election. Hope also believes that people would have extended vacations of up to three months at a time to get the best views of the solar system.

He alleged that some of these property owners have ambitious plans for their holdings that include a golf course which will be challenging because “even a one-degree pitch would send the ball into outer space.” Hope remarked that he turned down a $50 million offer from someone who wanted to purchase the entire northern area of the moon last year since the lunar embassy does not sell real estate near important historical sites.

There are currently 27 resellers, 6 ambassadors, and 2 permanent staff members functioning for the real estate company. Licence holders must pay a $60,000 fee and purchase a minimum number of homes each month in order to resell properties or become an ambassador.

Dennis Hope has offered many governments, including the United States, a sizable sum of money to help them with their financial problems. He invented a financial system called ‘The Delta’ that is utilised by those who own property on the moon, but no government has yet accepted the loan. He established the Galactic Government in 2001 to safeguard these roughly six million property owners.

Hope has also claimed ownership of Mars, Venus, Mercury, and one of Jupiter’s moons and commented that he doesn’t “sell on other planets because he can’t find maps of them to carve out subdivisions.”

Indian celebrities with land on the moon

Interestingly, Shah Rukh Khan and the late Sushant Singh Rajput also own a piece of land on the moon. SRK stated that an Australian woman gifts him a little plot of land on his birthday every year in an interview in 2009. He is now the owner of the Sea of Tranquilly, a popular region on the moon. The cost of one acre which equates to 43,560 square feet or 4,047 square metres is around $37.50 (or $1758.75) and the superstar has been given numerous acres there.

“An Australian lady buys a little land on the moon for me every year on my birthday. She has been buying it for a while now and I get these certificates from the Lunar Republic Society. She writes me colourful emails (in the sense one line is red, one is blue and so on). I feel blessed to have the love of so many people worldwide,” he revealed in an interview.

Sushant Singh Rajput acquired a plot of property known as the Mare Muscoviense, or the Sea of Muscovy on the far side of the moon in 2018. According to estimates, he paid 55 lakh rupees for it. He also possessed a Meade 14″ LX-600, a sophisticated telescope that enabled him to monitor his acreage from his house.

Notably, there is a website called The Lunar Registry which allows you to buy and own land on the moon. The website reads, “The International Lunar Lands Registry (ILLR) is tasked with administering and allocating real property located on Luna, Earth’s Moon, and registering ownership claims to properties on the Moon on behalf of individuals, organisations and business entities around the world.”