Petition Privatisation of Space

The government should seek to replace the UN's current "Outer Space Treaty" which bans any ownership of extraterrestrial property such as the Moon or asteroids, with a new treaty which allows the
privatisation of space. We've had 50 years of manned spaceflight and countless billions have been spent and apart from landing 12 men on the Moon nothing has been achieved. It is time to give private enterprise a go. Just as selling state assets has generated huge sums for governments, the privatisation of space could also generate sums big enough to pay off the debts of countries and get us out of the current financial mess. Huge tracts of Mars and the Moon could be sold to investors. Minerals right could also be sold. If these territories are privately owned it should encourage their owners to do something with them.