Disclaimer

It is not an official name

Names for features on the Moon are assigned by the International Astronomical Union and by nobody else. The IAU does not sell naming rights, has never sold naming rights, and will not sell them to you, to us, or to any of the companies advertising them. The crater you dedicate keeps the official name astronomers gave it, and that is the name in every scientific catalogue, atlas and mission plan.

It is not ownership

The 1967 Outer Space Treaty, signed by the United States and more than a hundred other countries, prevents any nation from claiming sovereignty over the Moon, and no private party can hold title where no nation can. You do not receive land, mineral rights, an estate, a deed, or any legal interest of any kind. Anyone selling you lunar acreage is selling you a piece of paper.

So what is it, then?

It is a dedication recorded permanently in the JT Crater Company Registry, a record we keep ourselves, tied to a real crater with real coordinates, printed on a certificate and packed into a gift set we make by hand. Each crater in our catalogue is dedicated exactly once and then retired, so the entry is genuinely yours and genuinely exclusive, within our registry. It is a keepsake and a gesture. It is a reason to take someone outside and point.

We think that is worth having, and we think it is worth more when nobody has lied to you about what it is.

The data is real

Crater names, diameters, centre coordinates, naming origins and IAU approval years come from the USGS Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, the official record. We print it as published. If you find an error in what we have printed, tell us at jtcratercompany@gmail.com and we will correct and reprint at our cost.

No affiliation

The Joshua Tree Crater Company is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the International Astronomical Union, NASA, the USGS, or any government space agency. We simply use their public data and credit it.