Dr Phil Davies, 49, from Hampshire, says he has a “legally well-constructed claim to land on planet Mars.” Through his website, mars.sale, he is offering people the chance to buy it off him for just one US cent for 10 acres.

So far, 1,100 people have made purchases, and 11,000 acres of Mars have been “sold.”

Davies says the action is not about the money, but safeguarding the future of space. Planets could soon be exploited by Earth countries competing to mine asteroids or those wanting to take nuclear weapons into the cosmos, he says.

Davies says the 49-year-old Outer Space Treaty (OST), the only current law governing activities in space, is outdated and unworkable.

He says the treaty needs to be tightened to ensure individuals cannot lay claim to individual bodies and prevent a cosmic“land grab and gold rush.”

RT