The proposed space-based nation Asgardia will launch its first satellite this fall to store data for the nation's newly selected citizens.

While it plans to someday host a moon colony and space station, the proposed space-based nation Asgardia is starting small: The project will launch its first satellite this fall to store data for the nation's newly selected citizens. Some 200,000 were chosen from the more than 500,000 applicants.

During a press conference in Hong Kong on June 13, Asgardia's founder, Igor Ashurbeyli, revealed concrete details about the satellite: Asgardia-1 will be deployed from Orbital ATK's Cygnus OA-8 resupply spacecraft launching in September

While it plans to someday host a moon colony and space station, the proposed space-based nation Asgardia is starting small: The project will launch its first satellite this fall to store data for the nation's newly selected citizens . Some 200,000 were chosen from the more than 500,000 applicants.

During a press conference in Hong Kong on June 13, Asgardia's founder, Igor Ashurbeyli, revealed concrete details about the satellite: Asgardia-1 will be deployed from Orbital ATK's Cygnus OA-8 resupply spacecraft launching in September. The satellite is 10 x 20 x 20 centimeters (3.9 x 7.9 x 7.9 inches) and has eight batteries and four deployable solar arrays. It will orbit at up to 500 kilometers (310 miles) above Earth. Texas-based space-services firm NanoRacks acts as the satellite's prime contractor and operator.

This official Asgardian holiday is named after Unified Voting Day, which takes place on the same day, when Asgardians are asked to accept the Constitution, vote for the flag and begin nominating themselves and voting for others in Asgardian elections. They are also invited to send files to space on the Asgardia-1 satellite.

As of today, there are 217,023 Asgardians globally, of whom 29,086 accepted the Constitution, 2,737 sent files to space, and 1,966 applied for leadership positions.

Founders of the first off-world “space nation”, Asgardia, have been overwhelmed by the number of people who want to sign up as citizens.

After the creation of Asgardia was announced in Paris last October, more than 500,000 applications were received within the first 20 days, the team behind the project has revealed.

The group, the brainchild of billionaire Russian computer scientist Dr Igor Ashurbeyli, now has almost 200,000 verified citizens from around 200 countries, who have each received a Certificate of Asgardia.

The article has been republished by the New York Post , The Irish News , Irish Examiner and The Yorkshire Post .

Asgardia, a non-profit organization aiming to create the world's "first space nation" announced plans in Hong Kong yesterday to launch its first physical presence into space: a tiny satellite the size of a loaf of bread that can be used by "citizens" of the currently digital nation to store private data. Asgardia, named after a mythological Norse city in the sky, said it would launch the nano satellite (nanosat) as cargo aboard Orbital ATK's September 12 supply mission to the International Space Station (ISS), contracted by NASA. Once the spacecraft docks at the space station, the crew will pop the nanosat, named Asgardia-1, into a special nanosat dispenser and eject it into orbit. The launch cost of around US$700,000 is being largely funded by Asgardia's founder and "Head of Nation", Dr. Igor Ashurbeyli, a wealthy Azerbaijani-born Russian scientist and businessman.

Head of Nation – Term Limit

First, Head of Nation Igor Ashurbeyli announced that he has constitutionally limited his own authority to a five-year period. "This will allow Asgardians to thoughtfully define how they see their future, and to incorporate necessary changes into the Constitution and the laws of Asgardia," he said.

The Constitution

The Head of Nation assured Asgardian citizens that nothing is set in stone. "Today I am calling upon everyone to vote for this Constitution as it is presented. It may change many times, the same as our Asgardian space humanity will change. But today we must not waste time."

Asgardia’s Government

Ashurbeyli emphasized that he plans to have a fully operational government in place in the next six months: "According to our Constitution, in only six months, we have to form the Parliament of Asgardia based on the language representativeness principle. And in the three months after – the Government, the Court, The Prosecutors Office, the National Audit Office and the other governmental bodies."

Decree No 6 – Voting Is Open!

Ashurbeyli urged Asgardians to ratify the Constitution, choose the national symbols and participate in leadership elections. "Without this we would be a fake nation, a sophisticated computer game. And this is not what we want," said Ashurbeyli. "We want to build a serious, legitimate, independent first space nation, which is recognised by the Earth states and the United Nations, and which is facing towards space in its development."

Sending Files to Space

The Head of Nation encouraged Asgardians to invite their parents, brothers, sisters, extended family and friends to join and send files to space.

After they have accepted the Constitution, Asgardians are encouraged to send their files to space. The first 100,000 people who became Asgardian citizens can send up to 500KB each to Asgardia-1. The next 400,000 Asgardians can send up to 200KB. The next million citizens can send up to 100KB each. After that, free storage will be closed.

"These are historic days, and your names and data will forever stay in the memory of the new space humanity, as they will be reinstalled on every following Asgardia satellite, orbital satellite constellations, on the Moon and anywhere in the Universe – wherever Asgardia will be," said Ashurbeyli.

Should Ashurbeyli ever pull it off, Asgardia would be a platform in Earth’s orbit in which people could live and work, as well as a place to help establish the defense of Earth from meteorites, space debris, and perhaps even human weapons being operated by hostile human forces themselves. Since announcing Asgardia last October, however, Ashurbeyli has barely provided any glimpse into what the heck this is actually supposed to look like. So it was a pleasant surprise to see Ashurbeyli announce Tuesday that Asgardia was opening up citizenship enrollment starting immediately, and making plans for its first satellite launch later this year. That launch will fire up a small hard drive into orbit, which will contain the first 100,000 citizens’ personal data.

Aaron Alan Morris, 21, of Beenleigh, Australia has become to first Asgardian to send files into space on the Asgardia-1 satellite. In his message, he writes: “…it has

always been my dream to go into space.”

With images, videos, audio files and texts sent to Asgardia’s first satellite, Asgardians establish their permanent presence in space. Asgardian citizens can upload files once they've ratified the Constitution.

Following the Hong Kong conference yesterday, the number of Asgardian citizens has risen to more than 200,000 people globally. This elevates Asgardia to 184 ^th place by population among countries worldwide, getting ahead of Samoa, Guernsey and Jersey, and Guam.

As Asgardia enters its eighth month of existence, even more people are expected to join.

Asgardia now ranks 185 ^th among the world’s nations by population size, up from 188 ^th place just weeks ago.

Since its founding on 12 October 2016, Asgardia has been steadily gaining citizens, with a current count of 192,874. Its population size has now surpassed the Island of Guam, the Channel Islands and Micronesia, as well as countries such as Monaco and Suriname.