Asgardia is a science fiction dream coming true. The first space society, independent of politics and the management of earthly laws. Since the founding of Asgardia in 2016, its de facto leader has been a Russian businessman, scientist and Doctor of Technical Sciences Igor Ashurbeyli. However, on June 25, he took part in the formal inauguration of the post of its official ruler. The ceremony took place at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna.
At the moment, more than 200 thousand inhabitants of the Earth are citizens of Asgardia. The state does not have its own territory, but according to Ashurbeyli, this is not a problem. Among the tasks of Asgardia is the formation of a space society based on many orbiting space stations and satellites, as well as the creation of a colony on the moon.
Asgardia is described as a humanistic attempt to gather around itself the best, brightest and most creative minds of mankind for the development and advancement of science, as well as a desire to resist the spread of earthly political and military conflicts in space.
In 2017, Asgardia launched the first orbiting satellite, which contains the State Charter and the Constitution of the first space state. According to the official website of Asgardia, many similar satellites are planned to be launched into orbit in the next two years, which will play an important role in organizing the space society. However, as it became known, the state has already encountered some problems. For example, some Asgardians have been perplexed by the fact that they cannot vote against the new constitution, which in turn gives Ashurbeyli virtually unlimited power to rule.
The identity of this man is somewhat of a mystery. At least for the Western press. Almost all the news about him says that Ashurbeyli is a billionaire, but more specific details about his condition are not known to the public. It is only known that he is a descendant of the well-known Azerbaijani family of Ashurbekovs (Azerbaijani aristocratic oil industrialists). At the same time, his successes are noted in the scientific environment, business, as well as in the development of defense and space technologies.
The Futurism portal managed to communicate with Ashurbeyli and find out more about how things are with Asgardia at the moment, as well as what plans the first space state is building for the future.
Tell us about your past. When did you become interested in space, when did the idea of creating Asgardia come about?
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I am a scientist and businessman. And now he's also become a philanthropist. For about 20 years he has been actively working in the Russian aerospace industry. Before being elected to the post of the head of Asgardia, he founded the Aerospace International Research Center GmbH (Vienna, Austria), as well as the Room Space Journal, where I am the editor-in-chief. From 2011 to the present - Chairman of the Presidium of the non-profit partnership “Non-departmental expert council on the problems of aerospace defense” (WEC VKO). Developed the Concept for the creation of the Unified Aerospace Defense System of Russia (EU VKO).
The idea of creating an independent state from all arose more than 10 years ago. The new state needs its own territory, but already at that time all land assets existing on our planet were distributed among other states. It turned out that the only opportunity for new nations to exist on Earth is the creation and use of artificial islands or other artificial territorial formations.
In 2016, when I was in Montreal for an international conference where issues of space laws were discussed, I thought: why not create an independent state in space? Are there any restrictions for this? After talking with experts in space law from McGill University (Canada), my idea took on a more definite form.
Who or what inspired you to found Asgardia?
I was inspired by the almost universal human mythology of another world somewhere outside the Earth. How at one time people were inspired by the concept of the mythical country of Shambhala in Tibet or the legend of the ancient Russian city of Kitezh. The very name Asgardia comes from "Asgard" - a city in the clouds, described in Scandinavian mythology. I really want Asgardia to become the embodiment of humanity's long-standing dream of living somewhere outside the world we know.
What are the main tasks of Asgardia and the people who support this vision?
Asgardia was founded on three principles: peace, accessibility and protection. First, Asgardia will strive to maintain peace in space and to ensure that earthly conflicts do not spill over there. Secondly, Asgardia seeks to ensure equal access to space for people from all over the world. And in the end, Asgardia will strive to ensure equal protection of both individuals and countries (in particular developing countries) from various potential space threats.
You were recently inaugurated as head of Asgratia at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna. How was the ceremony? Who attended?
I am very proud of the fact that the inauguration took place at the Hofburg Palace. My candidacy as head of state was supported by the newly elected Parliament of Asgardia, diplomatic representatives of more than a dozen other countries, several representatives of large public organizations associated with the UN, members of the Asgardian parliament, astronauts, heads of some space agencies, scientists, as well as our international legal team.
You recently launched a satellite with data on Asgardia and its Constitution. Was it difficult to choose which one to launch first? How did you feel after a successful launch?
We initially made a decision on what exactly to launch with the first satellite. What will be important for the Asgardians. This was our first step towards opening up space for people from all over the world. Before sending the documents, we made sure that they fully comply with international standards.
I was very happy to witness the launch personally. Watch how the rocket takes off, and with it the first piece of the sovereign territory of Asgardia is put into space into low-Earth orbit.
There was information that some members of the Asgaardian society reported their lack of rights. For example, it was said that they cannot vote for the Constitution. Is this a correct description of what happened?
Every Asgardian could vote for the Constitution, or abstain from voting. 72.5 percent of Asgardians voted in favor of the submitted constitutional document. In Asgardia, every voice will be heard.
Note: Discussion of this situation by the Asgardian community revealed the fact that 72.5 percent of the votes for the adoption of the Asgardian Constitution may not reflect the true opinion of the people. If you go to the site of Asgardia, where the vote was held, it becomes clear that people were given the choice either to accept the document as it is, or simply go to another page, thereby expressing their disagreement. The community was not given even an elementary opportunity to discuss the submitted document.
How are you going to deal with the problems and contentious issues within Asgardia? Any plan for the future?
The first parliamentary meeting, held on June 24 in Vienna, was attended by 100 members of Parliament representing about 40 countries. The issues were discussed in 8 world languages. The debate lasted over 11 hours instead of the originally planned 8 hours. Anyone without exception was given the opportunity to speak. About 20 open polls were conducted. All decisions on the existing issues and problems were taken with all the principles of democracy. To reduce the number of disagreements in Asgardia, parties were banned, as well as the division of citizens along ethnic and religious grounds. At the same time, complete unity of opinion is impossible in any human society.
The highest goal of Asgardia, as we understand it, is for people to start living in space. What do you think is the biggest challenge facing this goal? Is it related to the level of technology development?
There are two very big problems: we must deal with cosmic radiation, and also the lack of gravity. To be able to create a permanent habitat in space, we must solve both of these problems. We are planning to build spaceships equipped with artificial gravity systems, protection from space radiation and other space threats.
Aside from space radiation and lack of gravity, are there any other problems that Asgardians will face if they decide to live in space?
The remaining potential threats I would classify into seven main categories: cosmic storms and flares, also known as coronal mass ejections; changes in the Earth's magnetosphere that destroy the effective protective layer of our planet; potential asteroid and cometary threat; space debris; climate change under the influence of man-made factors and solar activity; cosmic radiation from nuclear reactions in novae, supernovae and pulsars; as well as the danger of infectious contamination of the Earth by microorganisms from meteorites and other small celestial bodies.
Many media write about you. Is there something that you would like to clarify or add to yourself?
Three things:
- I'm not a billionaire. I am an ordinary person. I made some money but started at $ 20 in 1988;
- I do not consider Asgardia as a business project. We are creating a space state;
- One of my hopes around Asgardia is to see the birth of the first man in space. I hope that Asgardia can become the starting point for the endless continuation of the human race in space.
What do you think space settlements will look like in the near and more distant future? When will humanity be able to break free from the shackles of gravity?
Hopefully, in the future, space settlements will look the same as our homes on Earth. I firmly believe that within the next 25 years, people will be able to start living outside our planet.
And in what exactly space settlements - on the Moon or in the same spaceships - will be similar to those on Earth?
In the possibility of repeating the environment in which people are used to living on Earth. This cannot be done with our current technologies on the same International Space Station, where a person is still a "tourist" with a limited time of stay, after which irreparable consequences for his health and life can come. We want to ensure that anyone can live in low-Earth orbit or the moon without having the status of a professional astronaut. This implies the development and establishment of permanent settlements in which the environment and conditions will be similar to those we have on Earth. I think this can be achieved within the next 25 years.
The key goal of creating permanent space settlements will be the possibility of the continuation of the human race outside our home planet. It is this step that will become a serious test of the permanence of such dwellings and will open the doors to the further resettlement of mankind in the Universe.
Can you at least roughly indicate when the spaceships that you spoke about earlier will be built and what needs to be done to create and place them in space?
Asgardia intends to create many satellites over the next 5-7 years, on the basis of which the Spacebook network (global Internet) will be built; spaceships for 15 years, and permanent settlement on the moon for 25 years.
Note: The representative of Ashurbeyli, who organized an interview with the head of Asgardia for the Futurism portal, said that so far they cannot share any technical details about the features of these future space settlements.
What are you planning to do in the near future? What should the Asgardians focus on right now and later?
The challenges we face right now - mobilizing the government apparatus, organizing the economy and embarking on diplomatic relations with other states - is the work we must do in order to prepare for the future of Asgardia.
Nikolay Khizhnyak
