The Asgardia-1 satellite will be launched this fall by an international group of scientists, researchers, and industrialists to “mark the start of a New Space Age, sixty years after the first ever artificial satellite, Sputnik 1 orbited the earth.”
The satellite is intended to be the inaugural spacecraft for what is being called Asgardia––the first nation in space.
“Asgardia aims to establish a legitimate, independent first space nation, which is recognized by states on Earth and the United Nations. This new nation will face towards space in its own future development,” according to a press release from the group. “But to do this, Asgardia requires its own constitution, which has been developed over the past six months with the help of legal experts and others in the community.”
The group, who is led by Dr. Igor Ashurbeyli––a distinguished rocket scientist, hopes to promote the “democratization of space” with the establishment of Asgardia. Ashurbeyli won the 2016 Gold UNESCO Media for his pioneering contributions to the field of nanoscience. Before joining the Asgardia project, Dr. Ashurbeyli won Russia’s most prestigious science award––the State Science & Technology prize.
Exactly one year ago, the international consortium met in France to reveal their plans for creating the first sovereign nation in orbit, Asgardia. Just a few months ago in Hong Kong, the same group announced the launching of the Asgardia-1 satellite.
“I can confidently announce today that we will be launching a space satellite, Asgardia-1,” said Dr Ashurbeyli in Hong Kong. “Asgardia-1 is our first, small step which we hope will lead to a giant leap forward for mankind. It will be our foundation stone, from which we will look to create a network of satellites that will help protect our planet against asteroids, solar flares, man-made space debris, and other space hazards, ”
The nation’s first satellite will safely store Asgardia’s “constitution, flag and other symbols of nationhood and will contain data stored for free by up to 1.5 million Asgardians.” Asgardia-1 is being built by the Near Space Corporation and will be flown to orbit atop an Orbital ATK Antares rocket.
Liftoff will occur at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia and the satellite will be placed a little over 300 miles above the Earth. For comparison, the International Space Station is located in low-Earth orbit, just 250 miles above the Earth.
Not familiar with the Antares rocket or Wallops Flight Facility? Well, a resupply mission to the space station just launched from there yesterday. You can watch below:
“Law is necessary for certainty in human behavior and for supporting innovations in human progress,” said Asgardia Co-Founder Professor Ram Jakhu who also heads up the Aerospace Law School at McGill University. “Progressive adaptations and new developments in law are indispensable for facilitating technological and entrepreneur advances for the betterment of humanity not only on our mother planet, Earth but also for humanity’s migration to the universe.”
You can read the Asgardia Declaration of Unity below or here.
DECLARATION OF UNITY OF ASGARDIA
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Asgardia is a free and unified space nation.
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The objectives of Asgardia are:
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To ensure peace in space;
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To ensure the protection of planet Earth and the entire humankind (from outer space threats);
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To ensure equal opportunities in space for all Asgardians residing on Earth, regardless of geographic, financial, technological and other specificities of the countries of their Earthly citizenship.
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Any resident of Earth can become a citizen of Asgardia, as long as he assents in the Declaration, and abides by the Constitution and the legislation of Asgardia.
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All citizens of Asgardia are equal, regardless of their Earthly country of origin, residence, citizenship, race, nationality, gender, language, or financial standing.
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Asgardia respects the laws of Earth’s nation states and the international treaties on Earth, and wishes to be recognised as an equal country among the nations on Earth.
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Asgardia does not interfere in the affairs of Earth’s nations on the principle of reciprocity.
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Asgardia participates in the international-level events on Earth, like any other country, based on its membership in the respective international organizations.
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Asgardia respects and complies with the rights of citizens of Earth nations, and protects the rights of its citizens in the exclusivity of their space nation citizenship.
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Asgardia does not engage in politics, and has no place for political parties. But every Asgardian can freely participate in political life on Earth.
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Asgardia mirrors the Earth, but does not reflect Earthly borders. At the same time, in the framework of Earthly law, every Asgardian can freely live within the borders of any Earthly country.
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Asgardia is a country of free spirit, science and internationalism. But every Asgardian can freely practice any religion on Earth.
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There is no place for the history of Earthly conflicts in Asgardia. Asgardia creates a new peaceful history of the future of the humankind in space.
Photo Credits: Asgardia
