Asgardia - the first national construction project in the universe

From the original Asgardia-1 satellite, scientists expect to build a country suspended over Earth's orbit.

International scientists on November 12 began to realize the dream of the "Asgardia universe" when successfully launching the Asgardia-1 satellite into orbit, according to CNN.

Dr. Igor Ashurbeyli proposed the establishment of the outer space Asgardia.(Photo: James Vaughan).

Asgardia-1 made a two-day flight from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, USA, to the International Space Station (ISS). This microscopic satellite carries 0.5 TB of data on 18,000 Asgardia citizens, including family photos and information on the new national flag, national emblem and constitution.

Dr. Igor Ashurbeyli, a Russian scientist, proposed to establish Asgardia, the first independent cosmic state in October 2016. The country was named after a heavenly land in Norse mythology. Citizens can apply to join Asgardia for free.

The mission of the project is to bring about a peaceful society, to make it easier for people to access space technologies and to protect the Earth from space threats such as meteorites or artificial space junk, Ashurbeyli said.

The rocket carries the Asgardia-1 satellite successfully into space.(Video: YouTube).

Asgardia-1 is delivered to the ISS by the OA-8 Antares-Cygnus missile , NASA's commercial freight vehicle. The satellite will have to wait about three weeks for the process of transporting essential equipment and scientific equipment from NASA ships to six astronauts on the ISS station.

After that, Asgardia-1 will split and begin its journey in Earth orbit. It will carry information of citizens flying out of space about 5-18 months, the usual operating time for this type of satellite.

When the new Asgardia project was announced, more than 100,000 people signed up to participate in just 40 hours. After three weeks, this number increased to 500,000. Anyone who is 18 years old, knows how to use email, regardless of gender, nationality, race, religion or financial condition, is allowed to register as a citizen, including those who have money the.

Currently, Asgardia has about 114,000 registered people from 204 countries around the world. These are the people who agreed to comply with the constitution, which was called for referendum in June. Turkey is the most populous country of Asgardia with more than 16,500 people.

"I really want to see if people can freely express their thoughts. I hope we can live in other ways, a better life and more choices," Rayven Sin, an artist. Hong Kong doctors participate in the project, sharing. Marketing expert John Spiro said he was interested in the idea of ​​putting personal information in space.

The Asgardia project team wishes to build facilities for people living in low Earth orbit, first at an altitude of 161 - 321km, where the ISS station is operating. The first flight to take this "flying nation" is expected to take place in 8 years.

People can register to become citizens of Asgardia for free.(Photo: James Vaughan).

"Our real home is not the house or city where we were born. The house is Earth, and we want to protect it. It is not a fantasy. Going to Mars, galaxies, good The same is just a fiction, I intend to do something more realistic , " Ashurbeyli said.

The project team is preparing for the next satellite launches but has not announced a specific time. Ashurbeyli said he is currently the only sponsor to fund the project, but does not disclose the specific amount.

Considered a wealthy billionaire, Ashurbeyli graduated from the Azerbaijan Petroleum Institute in 1985 and founded Socium Software Company three years later. He moved to Moscow in the 1990s. In 2010, he was awarded the Russian Science and Technology Award.

In 2013, he founded the International Aerospace Research Center (AIRC) in Vienna, Austria and is the chair of UNESCO's Space Science Commission. However, since 2011, he announced his withdrawal from all government organizations and is currently a political neutral.

Asgardia is the Ashurbeyli project dreamed of as a child, he spoke at a press conference in Hong Kong in June. "I really want to do something unusual that no one has done. My dream is to establish. an independent country " , Ashurbeyli shared on CNN.

Currently, extraterrestrial regulations are governed by the Space Treaty signed by 103 countries, including the United States and Russia. However, Asgardia advocates establishing a new legal foundation outside the universe.

Future Asgardia citizens will live in outer space projects.(Photo: James Vaughan).

One of Asgardia's most ambitious plans is to become a member of the United Nations . To achieve this, the UN Security Council must first approve the application for national registration of Asgardia. After that, two-thirds of the General Council members must support Asgardia to join the United Nations.

"A country must have the following characteristics: stable population, defined territory, government, ability to engage in relationships with other countries, and must be recognized by other countries as a house. water, " said Joanne Gabrynowicz, expert in cosmology from the law department of Beijing Institute of Technology.

Ashurbeyli intends to establish a democratic government with the prosecutor's office, national audit agency and other government agencies in Asgardia. The ministries will be run by representatives in each area, while the administrative center is located in Vienna. Government agencies will be established after parliamentary elections.

Asgardians will benefit from having "dual citizenship" , Ashurbeyli answers when asked how to "bring peace" to citizens while there is no geographic territory. "If I get into trouble on Earth, I will be assisted by the Asgardia embassy. Just like when you are a tourist, you can go to the embassy and they will try to help , " he explained.

However, Ashurbeyli knows that he will face many difficulties when creating a new country."We are like a normal country. All countries have problems to deal with and soon, we will be the same. But we have more problems because we are not on Earth." , he shared.