Space & Astronomy

Consortium unveils space nation 'Asgardia'

By T.K. Randall
October 14, 2016 ·  30 comments

Will Asgardia be the first nation to reside entirely in space ? Image Credit: NASA The extraordinarily ambitious project has been masterminded by an international consortium of scientists, engineers, businessmen and lawyers led by Russian nanoscientist Igor Ashurbeyli who previously founded the Aerospace International Research Center in Vienna.

The idea behind Asgardia, which is named after the mythical city of Norse mythology, is to create an independent country where scientific advancement is prioritized over financial and political ambition.

"The scientific and technological component of the project can be explained in just three words: peace, access, and protection," Ashurbeyli said during a recent press conference in Paris.

As if this wasn't ambitious enough, the project is also seeking to defend the Earth against threats from outer space such as asteroid strikes, solar flares and space debris.So far the space nation has no presence in space whatsoever, however there are already plans to launch the first satellite before the end of next year.

Becoming a citizen of Asgardia is currently as simple as registering online but until a viable space habitation module becomes available the nation is likely to remain strictly earthbound.

There are currently 1,400 Asgardians on the register and there is hope that once that figure reaches 100,000 the fledgling country will be able to apply to join the United Nations.

Whether the project will ever truly get off the ground however remains to be seen.

Source: News.com.au | Comments (30)

Tags: Asgardia