Are you fascinated with living in space?  Perhaps Asgardia The Space Nation could make your dream come true.  On 13 June 2017, Porda Havas assisted Asgardia in holding a press conference to announce their plans to launch inaugural satellite and the stakeholder event to engage with the local Asgardian community.

Detailed plans were announced by an international team of renowned scientists, academics and entrepreneurs of the launch of Asgardia-1, the inaugural satellite of the world's first Space Nation, Asgardia. The satellite, scheduled to be deployed this coming Autumn, will comprise the nation itself, with its own constitution, flag and other symbols of nationhood and will contain data stored for free by up to 1.5 million Asgardians.

Led by Dr Igor Ashurbeyli, one of the world's most distinguished rocket scientists, the international team will take the first tangible step in the foundation of Asgardia, the first space nation, independent of any country on Earth and subject to international law. Once deployed, the satellite will become the foundation stone of a permanent presence in space of the new Space Nation, Asgardia. It will mark the start of a New Space Age, sixty years after the first ever artificial satellite, Sputnik 1 orbited the earth.

As we enter this New Space Age in which private businesses, and people over the world have unprecedented access to space through projects thought impossible just a few decades ago, Asgardia seeks to pioneer the democratisation of space for all.

Dr Ashurbeyli said:

“Asgardia will now demonstrate that space is within our grasp. Last year in Paris, when we launched Asgardia, many people were sceptical that we would ever put anything in space. But I can confidently announce today, that we will be launching a space satellite, Asgardia-1.”

“Sixty years after the launch of the first ever artificial satellite, Sputnik, our own space satellite, Asgardia-1 will mark the beginning of a new space era, taking our citizens into space in virtual form, at first.  Asgardia-1 will contain data stored for free for up to 1.5 million Asgardians on board the satellite. 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 new Asgardia satellite we launch.

“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.”

Jeffrey Manber, CEO and co-founder of NanoRacks said:

“NanoRacks is delighted to have become the implementation partner for Asgardia, providing a turnkey solution to their in-space needs, from locating the satellite, to the launch and final deployment into space. Asgardia is a creative and exciting new chapter in our eternal questioning of how humanity will live and work in space. We’re excited about the future for Asgardia.”

Asgardia aims to establish a legitimate, independent first space nation, which is recognised by states on Earth and the United Nations. This new nation will face towards space in its own future development. 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.

Professor Ram Jakhu, Director of Aerospace Law School at McGill University, Montreal said:

“Law is necessary for certainty in human behaviour and for supporting innovations in human progress.  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.”

The news follows last October's announcement in Paris of the creation of Asgardia and the launch of the citizenship process. In the first 48 hours following that announcement, over 100,000 people on earth registered as Asgardians, rising to above 500,000 registrations in the first 20 days.

So many people registered that Asgardia stopped taking in new applications, and switched to a second level of verification:  excluding minors who registered without the permission of their parents, duplicate applications, those who did not provide additional information, and various bots. Asgardia now has close to 200,000 citizens from approximately 200 countries who have passed the second level of verification and have received personal Certificates of Asgardia.

These citizens will now have a chance to vote on a new Constitution of Asgardia which is being presented today, and will define the new Nation. Verified citizens of Asgardia can simply visit our website at www.asgardia.space , which is being re-launched today, to cast their vote. In addition, the site will also allow for people to continue registering to become citizens of Asgardia alongside their nationality on Earth.