Skip to content
Illustration of an old survey map and a certificate with a wax seal on a wooden table, with red desert cliffs beyond
Gifts · Guide

Moon and Mars land as a gift

People have given acres of the Moon as presents since the 1980s. The gift works best when the person knows exactly what it is. Here is what a Red Homestead gift includes, how the gift code works, and how to present it.

Updated 4 October 2026About 6 minutes
Short answer

You can't give title to land on the Moon or Mars; nobody can. You can give a documented claim to a specific, surveyed parcel. A Red Homestead gift costs $39: you get a printable gift certificate with a code by email at once, they redeem it, choose their own 40-acre lot on Mars, and the registry issues the 19-document claim file in their name. They pay nothing more.

It is a collectible and a story. The claim file says plainly what it is, so nobody opens it expecting property.

What they receive

  • A 40-acre lot on Mars. In Founding Tract One, our subdivision in Acidalia Planitia, platted over NASA imagery with roads, parks and commons. They choose the lot. One lot, one claimant: nobody else can file on it.
  • The claim file in their name. 19 documents in one PDF, modeled on the paperwork of US homestead and mining claims: the survey, a declaration of good faith, the public notice, a beneficial-use plan, a continuity ledger and more. See all 19.
  • A certificate to frame. Part of the file, ready to print.
  • A place on the public roll. The claim appears on the registry roll with its parcel, acreage and filing date. The name shows only if they opt in.
  • A 24-month public notice. Anyone may contest the claim during that time, and contests are settled by filing date.
  • 12 months of Claim Protection. A monthly continuity report that keeps the record current. After the first year it is $3.99 a month and optional; if it lapses, nothing is taken away.
  • Optional: the printed claim file. All 19 documents printed and mailed in a keepsake envelope to the address they give when they redeem, $50 more.

How the gift code works

  1. Fill in the gift page. Their name goes on the gift certificate. Add their email and a date if you want us to send it, and a note of up to 400 characters. Leave the email blank to hand over a printed certificate yourself.
  2. Pay $39 on Stripe's checkout page; no account needed. Add the printed claim file for $50 if you like.
  3. Get the certificate. A PDF gift certificate with a single-use code arrives by email straight away.
  4. They redeem it. They enter the code, choose their lot, and add their own legal name and signature. The registry then issues the claim file in their name.

Moon or Mars?

Gift codes are for Mars lots. Mars suits someone who follows SpaceX, the rovers or the idea of settling another planet. Founding Tract One sits at about 41° north, in the band of ice-rich northern plains where most studies put the first settlements. Our guide to when humans will go to Mars makes a good companion read.

If the person you have in mind is a Moon person, they can claim a lunar parcel themselves in the claim explorer for the same $39. The dark plains of the near side, such as Mare Tranquillitatis and Mare Serenitatis, are visible to the naked eye, and the south pole around Shackleton crater is where NASA's Artemis landings are headed.

Timing for Christmas

  • The gift certificate is instant. It arrives by email the moment you pay, so a gift bought on Christmas Eve still works. Print it and put it in a card, or schedule the email for Christmas morning.
  • The printed claim file takes longer. It is put together by hand after they redeem. Order by December 8 and ask them to redeem soon after for the best chance of US delivery before Christmas.

How to present it

  • Print and frame the gift certificate, with the code on a card tucked behind it.
  • Add a way to see Mars. Mars reaches opposition on 19 February 2027, when it is up all night and at its brightest for the season, so a small telescope bought for Christmas has a target eight weeks later.
  • Redeem it together. Open Founding Tract One with them and zoom from the whole tract down to the lot they pick.
  • Pair it with a book. Our gift guide for space lovers lists a few that go well with a claim.

What to write in the card

Plain words keep the gift from feeling like a gag. Something like:

"This is a claim to a surveyed lot on Mars, with your name on a public registry and the date you staked it. Nobody can sell title to land up there, so this is the next best thing: a record that you were there early."

Change the wording as you like. Please don't call it a deed or say they own the land; the claim file tells them plainly that it is neither.

Compared with other space gifts

Moon land certificates from other sellers cost about $15 to $60 and usually come as a printed or PDF certificate and map; our seller comparison lays them side by side. Star naming certificates are a different product: the International Astronomical Union, which names stars, does not recognize purchased names (can you name a star?). NASA's free "Send Your Name" campaigns, when one is open, put names on a real spacecraft.

Keep reading

Gifts for space lovers
Telescopes, books, posters, meteorites and more.
Can you buy land on Mars?
What is for sale and what a claim includes.
Can you buy land on the Moon?
What the law says and what the sellers send.

Questions about giving Moon or Mars land

Is land on Mars or the Moon a real gift?

It is a real document and a real record, not real estate. Nobody can give title to land on the Moon or Mars. A Red Homestead gift gives the person a surveyed 40-acre lot on Mars, a 19-document claim file in their name, a certificate to frame and a dated entry on a public registry.

How fast does it arrive?

The gift certificate is a PDF emailed the moment you pay, with a single-use code, so it works on Christmas Eve. You can also have it emailed to them on a date you pick. The claim file is issued when they redeem the code.

When do I need to order the printed claim file for Christmas?

The printed file is filed and put together by hand after they redeem. Order by December 8 and ask them to redeem soon after for the best chance of US delivery before Christmas.

Can I give a parcel on the Moon?

Gift codes are for Mars lots in Founding Tract One today. Anyone can claim a Moon parcel for themselves in the claim explorer for the same $39.

Will the person's name be public?

Only if they choose. The public registry roll lists every filed claim with its parcel, acreage and dates; the claimant's name appears only when the claimant opts in.

Is it an investment?

No. Please don't give it as one. A claim is a keepsake and a record of the person's interest, with no resale value promised or implied.

What if they never redeem it?

Unused gifts are covered by our refund and cancellation policy; read it before you buy.

Give a Mars claim

A gift certificate by email the moment you pay. They choose a 40-acre lot on Mars and get the claim file in their name. $39.

Give a Mars claim as a gift    See Founding Tract One

Important legal disclaimer

No title to land is conveyed. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty (Art. II) bars national appropriation of celestial bodies, and no sovereign, court, or land registry currently has jurisdiction to grant or enforce private title to land on the Moon, Mars, or any celestial body. Red Homestead does not and cannot convey legal ownership or any presently-enforceable property right.

What you purchase. A claim-documentation and registry service — the preparation, public publication, opposition-period adjudication, and continuous-possession recordkeeping of a good-faith homestead claim — together with a collectible certificate. It is a record of your claim and intent, not a title.

Not an investment; not a security. Your payment is not an investment of money in a common enterprise and carries no expectation of profit from our efforts. We make no representation that a claim can be resold or will be worth money. The claim is not offered as a security and is not registered with the SEC, any state securities regulator, or any other authority.

No guarantee of recognition; no sovereignty; not legal advice. We model the process on frameworks in which documented good-faith possession was sometimes later recognized, but we do not guarantee any authority will ever recognize your claim. No Red Homestead claim asserts national sovereignty. Nothing here is legal, tax, or financial advice.