What the space settlement institute does

The Space Settlement Institute is a US-based non-profit policy and advocacy organization focused on developing legal frameworks that enable permanent human settlement beyond Earth. Its core product is the Space Settlement Prize Act — a proposed federal statute that would recognize lunar and Martian land claims and grant prize-based incentives for settlement activity, alongside a broader Lunar and Mars Land Claims Recognition legislative package. The organization positions itself as the originator of the land claims recognition concept, tracing its advocacy back over thirty years and codifying the proposal in peer-reviewed work such as the "Homesteading the Final Frontier" report, a Journal of Air Law & Commerce article, and inclusion in the 2011 textbook "International Law: Contemporary Issues and Future Developments."

The Institute serves US federal policymakers — primarily Congress — as well as the commercial space industry, academic legal scholars, and the broader public interested in space property rights. It has no technology product, no software platform, and no traditional revenue mechanism; operations are sustained through donations and grants, with leadership comprising Douglas Orion Jobes as President and Alan Wasser as Chairman. Its go-to-market is policy advocacy rather than commercial sales: the Institute publishes scholarship, engages media, and lobbies legislators to advance its statutory framework.

In 2026 the Institute re-launched its website with framing anchored to SpaceX's announced lunar city plans and the renewed US-China lunar competition, signaling an attempt to convert long-standing academic positioning into timely legislative action. The organization also cites an internal economic estimate of $350 billion to $1 trillion in US economic growth contingent on enabling space settlement law, and uses an illustrative 600,000-square-mile claim area to communicate the scale of its proposal. No patents, funding rounds, commercial partnerships, or AI capabilities are disclosed.

Name

the space settlement institute

Legal name

The Space Settlement Institute

Website

https://space-settlement-institute.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The Space Settlement Institute is a US non-profit policy organization that drafts and advocates for legislation — chiefly the Space Settlement Prize Act — to recognize lunar and Martian land claims, serving US Congress, the commercial space industry, and academic legal scholars.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Space Policy Advocacy

NAICS

Space Research and Technology (9271)

akta.pro primary industry

International Science, Technology & Space Cooperation Organizations (BPADAAAK)

Keywords

• Space property rights
• Space law policy
• Space settlement advocacy
• Nonprofit policy institute
• Space legislation proposals

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Space Settlement Institute develops and promotes legal frameworks — primarily the Space Settlement Prize Act and the Lunar Land Claims Recognition concept — that would allow established private settlements on the Moon and Mars to claim and resell territory around their bases under civil law's 'use and occupation' principle. It packages these proposals as ready-for-Congress draft legislation, peer-reviewed legal scholarship, and educational materials, distributed free of charge to influence U.S. policymakers, private space companies, and the public.

Product overview

The Space Settlement Institute is a non-profit policy research organization (registered in Texas) focused on establishing the legal framework for permanent space settlement. Rather than a technology product company, its core 'offerings' are policy proposals and legal scholarship designed to create economic incentives for private space development. The main product is the Space Settlement Prize Act, a proposed U.S. law that would recognize private land claims on the Moon and Mars based on use and occupation. Related offerings include the Space Homestead Act (alternative draft legislation), peer-reviewed legal scholarship in the Journal of Air Law & Commerce, a chapter in the law school textbook 'International Law', research reports like 'Homesteading the Final Frontier', and educational FAQs explaining lunar land claims recognition. These publications collectively advocate for property rights legislation as the missing incentive needed to attract private investment for space settlement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Space Settlement Prize Act

Quantifiable outcome

• Estimated $350 billion to $1 trillion in economic growth from lunar settlement development and operations
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• National Space Society: The leading U.S. nonprofit space-settlement advocacy organization. Directly comparable as a non-profit promoting permanent space settlement; Alan Wasser (Institute Chairman) simultaneously serves as NSS CEO, indicating tight institutional overlap and shared mission.
• Space Frontier Foundation: Advocacy non-profit promoting free-market, permanent human presence in space. Comparable as a peer space-settlement advocacy nonprofit where Alan Wasser is also an Advocate, sharing policy-development and lobbying channels.
• Secure World Foundation: Nonprofit focused on space sustainability, international space law, and responsible space behavior. Directly comparable in working on the legal/policy frameworks governing commercial and governmental use of outer space.

Broad incumbents

• The Planetary Society: Largest and best-funded U.S. nonprofit space-advocacy organization. Comparable as a space-policy thought leader with similar donation-funded, education-and-advocacy model, but with broader scope (science, exploration, SETI, and settlement).
• Center for Space Policy and Strategy (Aerospace Corp.): Policy research arm of a major U.S. aerospace contractor producing authoritative analysis on commercial space, regulatory, and national-security space policy. Comparable as a peer in space-policy research output aimed at Congressional and executive audiences.
• Commercial Space Federation: U.S. trade association representing the commercial space industry. Comparable as a peer advocating for legislative and regulatory conditions that enable private space enterprise, including property rights and resource utilization.
• Space Policy Institute (George Washington University): University-affiliated academic center producing space-policy research and graduate training. Comparable in producing policy scholarship aimed at Congressional and international audiences on civil and commercial space topics.

Emerging players

• The Space Treaty Project: Independent initiative focused on clarifying interpretation of the Outer Space Treaty for private activity. Comparable as a peer working specifically on the legal vacuum around private space property rights that the Space Settlement Institute seeks to fill.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about the space settlement institute