Asgardia – Your chance to live in space and defend Earth

If it gets too crowded on Earth, you could think about moving to space. A new country, going by the name Asgardia could be the first ever nation created, wait for it, in space! Asgardia has been named after Norse mythology’s city in the skies, and aims to embark on a mission to mine asteroids and defend our Mother Earth from threats such as dangerous meteorites space debris.

The masterminds behind this ‘out-of-this-world’ shield for humans include space experts based out of Canada, Romania, Russia and the United States. At the moment, the exact number of researchers or other experts has not been disclosed.

The concept is to launch a robotic satellite within the next 18 months and eventually follow up with a permanent space station "where people can live, work, and have their own rules and regulations." The company website will allow the first 100,000 people to register to become citizens of Asgardia, alongside their nationality on Earth.

Asgardia is said to be a fully-fledged and independent nation in which the essence of Asgardia is Peace in Space, and the prevention of Earth’s conflicts being transferred into space. It is also said to serve the entire humanity and each and everyone, regardless of his or her personal welfare and the prosperity of the country where they happened to be born.

Reportedly, this project will need tens of millions of dollars to start out and billions to sustain it too. As quoted on their website, the floating nation “will offer an independent platform free from the constraint of a land-based country’s laws.” Its first prototype satellite is planned for launch in 2017-2018.