A BEIJING appeals court has upheld a ban on a company selling land on the moon, ruling that "celestial bodies" could not be anyone's property, domestic media said Saturday.

Lunar Embassy to China, a Beijing-based company that sold plots of lunar land to individuals, sued the Beijing Administration of Industry and Commerce which revoked its business license and fined it 50,000 yuan (US$6,410) in October 2005.

Haidian District People's Court ruled against the company in November 2005. On Friday, the Beijing First Intermediate People's Court upheld that decision, Xinhua said.

The court cited an international treaty that China signed in 1983.

"The treaty states that outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by other means. The exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries," Xinhua said.

The company offered to sell individuals ownership of an acre of lunar land for 298 yuan each.

"Within three days of opening for business, it was reported that 34 clients had bought 49 acres of land, earning the company more than 14,000 yuan.

China meanwhile may launch its first lunar satellite in September this year, the People's Daily said in its overseas edition Saturday, quoting the head of the country's Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defence.

(SD-Agencies)