Can land on another planet be acquired by a person or country, and if so how?

Answer 1

Land on another planet cannot be acquired by a country, there have been several treaties signed by spacefaring nations verifying this. However, these treaties, which are overseen by UNOOSA, do not include language that addresses private individuals, or companies acting as private individuals, which some people see as a loophole. The treaties however do include language saying that individuals are the responsibility of their respective nations, so anyone attempting to privately acquire extraterrestrial land has to answer to their earthly government. On the one hand, if you did have the resources to go and physically claim land on the moon as your private property, it would be very difficult for anyone to stop you from squatting there. However, the government won't stop people on earth from selling you a piece of paper claiming that you own land on the moon either, because they can't/won't/don't have to validate your claim to the actual land represented on the paper if you somehow end up in court about it. Anyone trying to sell you a piece of extraterrestrial land is just trying to part a fool and his money, and there are plenty of worthier investments on this planet.