Wes Faires

Wes Faires made his first entry into the archives of claims to property in Outer Space during college in 2003 when he recorded a 4 page Affidavit claiming ownership to the three stars of Orion's Belt.  In 2006, after graduating with a B.S. in Communications, he made the decision to use this project as a tool obtain an answer from an official source on the legality of off-planet property claims under the Outer Space Treaty once and for all.  A formal letter campaign pinpointed the competent authorities for such matters within the U.S. State Department and the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs.  He made the decision to take the issue of formal confirmation on the compliance or violation of his Claim of Ownership to Orion's Belt directly to the source of space law which would require participation in the U.N. Committee of Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNVIENNA) - as a private citizen.  While at the proceedings, he approached the competent US authorities simply asking whether the CLAIM, in and of itself, executed by a "natural person" stood in VIOLATION of the Outer Space Treaty - in the view of the competent authority on behalf of the U.S., there was no violation.  This paved the way for formal confirmation that nothing in the underlying documents is prohibited by domestic or treaty law, clearing it for international legal use.  Condoleezza Rice's signature upon a Claim of Ownership to the 3 stars of Orion's Belt *executed after contact with the competent authority for space/treaty affairs* in November 2008 was the first formal confirmation on behalf of a State Party that private property rights were not patently unlawful under the Outer Space Treaty.  He has obtained multiple reaffirmations upon various such claims under the past 3 secretaries of state and is now looking to gain similar confirmation outside the U.S.