united-states international
Can I steal Elon&#39;s Tesla?
<p>My question is pretty simple: if I somehow retrieved the Tesla sent into orbit by SpaceX earlier this week, could I keep it? Why or why not?</p>

<p>I'm specifically wondering if there are any laws pertaining to ownership/theft of items left unmanned out in space, either in the form of international treaties the US recognizes, or laws the US would enforce against its own citizens, as I do live there.</p>

<p>If a private citizen or a company disposes of a piece of property with no expectation of its return, then it can be collected by another person without hindrance. It is considered &quot;abandoned&quot; per <a href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-7th-circuit/1200020.html" rel="noreferrer">UNITED STATES v. REDMON</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Thus, the intent to relinquish ownership and abandon trash is
tantamount to “throwing away” a subjective expectation of privacy in
it that society accepts as objectively reasonable.</strong>   In short, when it
comes to abandoned property, “I know it when I see it,” Jacobellis v.
Ohio, 378 U.S. 184, 197, 84 S.Ct. 1676, 1683, 12 L.Ed.2d 793 (1964)
(Stewart, J., concurring) (identifying what constitutes “obscene”
material), and <strong>when the police see abandoned garbage which has been
left unsecured in its usual place and at its usual time for
collection, it is theirs for the taking.</strong>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Since Musk has stated that there is <strong>no reasonable possibility of its return</strong> and since he is <strong>no longer in communication with it</strong>, it can be considered (for all intents and purposes) to be abandoned garbage unlike, for example a privately owned orbiter or a communication satellite.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>&quot;We estimate it'll be in that orbit for several hundred million years,
maybe in excess of a billion years,&quot;</strong> Musk said before launch. Tuesday
night, he tweeted: &quot;Third burn successful. Exceeded Mars orbit and
kept going to the Asteroid Belt.&quot;</p>
<p><sub><sup><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/spacex-tesla-launched-on-falcon-heavy-out-of-this-world-view/" rel="noreferrer">SpaceX's Tesla's out-of-this-world view</a></sub></sup></p>
</blockquote>

<p>As @Greendrake has <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/25923/can-i-steal-elons-tesla#comment45389_25923">already commented</a>, property ownership rights are not affected by an object being in outer space—this was agreed in the <a href="http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/outerspacetreaty.html" rel="noreferrer">Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies</a> (the "Outer Space Treaty"), which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1966 and entered into force on 10 October 1967.  Its Article VIII states (emphasis added):</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>A State Party to the Treaty on whose registry an object launched into outer space is carried shall retain jurisdiction and control over such object, and over any personnel thereof, while in outer space or on a celestial body. <strong>Ownership of objects launched into outer space, including objects landed or constructed on a celestial body, and of their component parts, is not affected by their presence in outer space or on a celestial body or by their return to the Earth.</strong> Such objects or component parts found beyond the limits of the State Party to the Treaty on whose registry they are carried shall be returned to that State Party, which shall, upon request, furnish identifying data prior to their return.</p>
</blockquote>
