The Verge Argues That the Artemis Moon Base Project Is 'Legally Dubious'

Our own Grateful Calvin just compiled some of the media's worst takes on Wednesday's launch of the Artemis II rocket, which will fly around the moon and return to Earth. No moon landing this time, but it's a good test run.

We've found perhaps the worst take on the Artemis II launch. The Verge, which we've never heard of, posted that the Artemis moon base project is "legally dubious."

The Artemis Moon base project is legally dubious https://t.co/V4VqabaX5G
— The Verge (@verge) April 1, 2026

Your face is dubious
— 🍹 Princess Consuela Banana-Hammock (@kimmie_c_) April 1, 2026

Georgina Torbet examines whether the United States' plan to establish a moon base eventually violates international law.

There isn’t a huge amount of international law that applies to space exploration, but what there is is very clear in one regard: No one owns the Moon. The Outer Space Treaty (which was signed nearly 60 years ago but is still the main basis for international law in space today, if you can believe it) is very explicit regarding the principle of non-appropriation, meaning that nations can’t claim sovereignty over any body in space. But what about extracting resources? There, we get into sticky territory.
“The US considers that resource extraction is not appropriation,” says Cassandra Steer, space law expert and founder of the Australasian Centre for Space Governance. Many international space lawyers, including Steer, have argued that this is unlawful. “That is an incorrect interpretation of the Outer Space Treaty. You’re trying to carve out a loophole.” After all, if a nation started digging up resources from a territory it didn’t have claim to on Earth these days, that would cause a few legal problems.

The Verge Argues That the Artemis Moon Base Project Is 'Legally Dubious'

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