&gt; &#x27;Outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means&#x27;.<p>Article 2 of the Outer Space Treaty [0]<p>The whole treaty is pretty vague and mostly deals with access to objects and national claims of ownership preventing access to objects. Article 9 might apply here but it&#x27;s pretty loosely worded too and basically says exploration will be conducted &quot;with due regard to the corresponding interests of all other State Parties to the Treaty&quot; and avoid harmful contamination.<p>Not sure if this qualifies as allowing national appropriation, all I&#x27;ve seen is that this applies to the bits they pull out not giving ownership to the body itself. There will probably be challenges once someone actually tries to go out and actually mine one. Article 9 might make better fodder for that though.<p>[0] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.unoosa.org&#x2F;pdf&#x2F;gares&#x2F;ARES_21_2222E.pdf" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.unoosa.org&#x2F;pdf&#x2F;gares&#x2F;ARES_21_2222E.pdf</a>