Asgardia, the first space nation, is named after the Norse mythology city in the skies (Asgard, ruled by Odin and Frigg). Its founder, Igor Ashurbeyli, is a Russian businessman who, together with an international team of scientists, is determined to create a permanent and completely independent space station , which would carry out asteroid mining missions and provide defense to the Earth against meteorites, solar storms. , space debris and other threats.
The goal of its founder is to create a “demilitarized” space for scientific development. Not surprisingly, its premises are: to guarantee peace in space, protect the Earth from space threats and create a demilitarized scientific base of knowledge in space open to all , “especially to developing countries that do not have access to space now “, in the words of Ashurbeyli himself.
The new space nation will have a government, flag, embassies and national anthem.
At the moment, the founder of Asgardia planned to launch in 2017 a data storage satellite (Asgardia-1) that will orbit well beyond the reach of the laws and regulations that have authority on Earth. The group plans to launch its satellite based on a supply mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
How many citizens of Asgardia are there already?
At the moment, more than 180,000 Earthlings have already pledged allegiance to the future orbital nation . The Top3 of terrestrial citizens who have become Asgardians are made up of: China, Turkey and the United States. Regarding the flag, the insignia and the national anthem. They are currently being developed and it has been set for June 13 to globally announce their next steps. In addition, they plan to establish their own currency and calendar , which will add an additional month to our 12-month calendar logically called Asgard, which will be located between the months of June and July.
Becoming an Asgardian is completely free and anyone can register as a citizen of Asgardia.
Igor Ashurbeyli, founder of Asgard, is also president of the International Aerospace Research Center (AIRC) in Vienna (Austria).
Asgardia launches its first satellite
The Space Kingdom of Asgardia has launched its first satellite. The satellite, called Asgardia-1, is about the size of a loaf of bread, and was sent into space on November 12. It contains half a terabyte of data and includes the foundations of the project: the constitution of the nation, its national symbols and the data of its 115,000 citizens.
Asgardia-1 was launched from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia aboard a Cygnus spacecraft on an ATK Antares Orbital rocket.
Although Asgardia is not currently recognized as a nation by any country on Earth, time will tell if this space nation becomes the first space-based or if it will remain simply an external hard drive in orbit.
Image credit: Asgardia
