Who owns the best real estate out of this world?

Want a great job selling the world's most valuable real estate? No risk of flooding, pests, noisy neighbours or wild dogs? And everyone wants a bit of your reflected glory!

That piece of real estate is in demand from most of the technologically advanced nations. It is the Geostationary Orbit. It just isn't quite clear who owns it.

A satellite in the geosynchronous orbit completes an orbit in exactly the same length of time as the Earth. The best geosynchronous orbit of all is the one directly above the equator because a satellite orbiting there is in the same position in the sky - always. This is called the geostationary orbit. Any satellite dish pointed at a satellite in the geostationary orbit doesn't have to track it. This saves heaps of money and technology! Any satellite in any other orbit changes position in the sky, so it has to be tracked.

If a country or company puts up three satellites into the geostationary orbit, then they can cover the whole planet. Most of the communications satellites in use at the moment operate in the geostationary orbit.

BUT - it is getting crowded up there. Geostationary objects in orbit must be at an exact distance above the earth - 35,786 kilometres (22,236 miles) from the surface.

Image of earth, courtesy NASA.
Salesman added by EUMY!

Think of the geostationary orbit as a basketball around the Earth. There are just so many little satellites you can glue on the basketball. This means that geostationary 'real estate' is finite. While the satellites are not going to crash into each other, there is a risk of getting so close that their frequencies would interfere with each other.

Who decides who can put satellites up there? Who stops someone sending one up which messes up the performance of other communication satellites? Well, no-one at the moment! There is international debate on this very issue.

Who has to clean it up?

There are now thousands of satellites in orbit around the Earth. There are many more thousands of bits of space junk out there such as bits of dead satellites, rocket boosters, lost tools, nuts and bolts.

1. Who should own the Geostationary Real Estate?

Satellite in geostationary orbit.
Image courtesy NASA.
The countries who already have satellites up there don't want ownership to go to anyone else.
Third world countries want to claim the space above their  country so that they would be able to charge rent.
Who would regulate the 'rent' so that very expensive communications satellites could be launched with confidence that there wouldn't be a sudden rent increase?
As the geostationary orbit becomes full, these issues will become critical. What do you think?

Staking a claim

Does the United States own the moon because they were first to plant their flag there?

There are many high powered legal and ethical debates going on about who owns what real estate out there in space. If there are to be future colonies, who will have control? If there are to be minerals mined on Mars, say, who owns the mineral rights? The first country there? What if it is a private company?

Think about this yourself and discuss it among your family and friends.

Landing on the moon and planets is probably going to happen in your lifetime. There are minerals and possibly other incredibly valuable resources. So who do they belong to?
2. Who should own the moon? Who should own the planets?
In giving your response, make sure you justify your opinions with strong reasons.
Feel free to quote those you have spoken to - but make sure that you give credit to them for their ideas.
Include comments from those you disagree with as well - then explain why you disagree.