The first legal revolution in near-Earth space may end with the creation of the first state in orbit.
Every self-respecting revolution must carry out a radical reform of the calendar. On October 12, 2016, the beginning of a new era was announced by Igor Ashurbeyli, a former rocket designer, now an entrepreneur and, as they say, a visionary - a person who not only expects a bright future, but diligently brings it closer. In the fall of 2016, Ashurbeyli announced the founding of Asgardia, the first state whose territory will be located outside the Earth.
Citizenship applications were received from residents of almost all countries of the world, and since different peoples have adopted different chronology, it was decided to adopt a new, universal calendar for a single "space nation". Like the revolutionaries of France, the Asgardian year is divided into 13 equal months of 28 days; "Extra" days are planned to be added between June and July. Unlike the French calendar, the names of the months remain the same, except that the additional month is called asgard.
Igor Ashurbeyli, founding father, head of the nation of Asgardia. Doctor of Technical Sciences, Head of Aerospace International Research Center (AIRC), Editor-in-Chief of ROOM magazine.
In 2000-2011, he headed the NPO GSKB Almaz-Antey, participated in the development of the S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems.
Space like the sea
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The dream of a happy, free country, somewhere high in heaven, has always accompanied a person. Until recently, at the dawn of astronautics, it seemed quite feasible, but since then, other planets and stars have not become available. The informal club of space powers capable of launching a rocket with a satellite into orbit still numbers about a dozen countries, and the elite group that have mastered manned space exploration includes only Russia, the United States and China. For ordinary people, space remains a picture on the screen - almost as unattainable as it was thousands of years ago. In addition to technical difficulties, this is due to legal problems.
The key legal act that regulates activities in outer space was adopted back in 1967 and today has been ratified by more than a hundred countries around the world. Among the provisions, for example, prohibiting the placement of weapons of mass destruction in orbit, the Outer Space Treaty also declares all celestial bodies and their resources “no-man's”. The ownership right applies only to artificial objects, and the laws of the country - the owner of the device apply to them. This treaty develops in the Agreement on the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, adopted in the 1970s, as well as in some other international documents. And they all inherit the old maritime law, in every possible way limiting the manifestation of the well-known principle "who sailed first is the master." In fact, space is declared the property of all mankind,any of its resources should belong to all people - and to no one in particular.
On the other hand, many lawyers note that since fishing outside the shelf and territorial waters is not forbidden to anyone, the same principle should apply in space. All this creates an uncertainty that investors who are able to make investments in space projects do not like. It is not surprising that attempts to torpedo the existing space legislation occur regularly. In 2015, US congressmen even considered an act allowing US citizens to develop space resources. Many lawyers directly called this project an attack on the Outer Space Treaty and, in general, a violation of accepted norms for activities outside the Earth. The situation remains in limbo. An entrepreneur who is ready to start mining rare metals on an asteroid cannot be sure that someone will not lay claim to a part of his profit. A base on the Moon or Mars will belong to the state that will build it - but who owns the valuable minerals extracted on Mars or the Moon? To everyone - and therefore to no one.
Legal experiment
It is also worth remembering that states that are active in space seek to support the projects of their scientists, engineers and technicians. Access to orbit remains unequal and unfree, affecting many areas of scientific, technical and commercial activity. All this served as the basis on which Igor Ashurbeyli came up with the idea of creating Asgardia - a "space nation", ready to take under its wing all earthlings who wanted to and give them their jurisdiction.
If we look for analogies in the past, then we can recall Sealand, whose creators tried to get an “ownerless” sea platform and then declare themselves as a new state. “Unlike Sealand, we start with a philosophical issue, then move on to the legal and finally the technical side of the issue,” Lena de Vinne, Vice President and CEO of INGO Asgardia, told us.
According to the founders of Asgardia, the idea that people should be united by living in a certain territory is outdated. The existing laws require such registration almost without fail, but they do not say anything about the fact that the country's territory should be located on Earth. Therefore, Asgardia's plan is to create a basic orbital infrastructure that will form the basis of a new state. The orbital group will become an artificially created territory to which sovereignty can be extended and, ideally, already in fact, achieve its recognition by the world community.
There are more than enough people willing to "register" in space. Just a couple of months after Igor Ashurbeyli's call, their number exceeded half a million, forcing the Asgardian leadership to verify the applications. Today the population exceeds 260 thousand people. All of them formally confirmed their desire to obtain space citizenship and their agreement to delegate to the “head of state” the right to conduct further negotiations on the recognition of the nation.
Satellite territory
It was originally planned that after receiving a sufficient number of inquiries, Asgardian representatives would submit an official application to the UN. However, having better understood the legal aspects of the problem, they chose a different path: “There is no specific questionnaire that you can simply fill out, submit to the UN and gain international recognition,” says Lena de Winne. - The UN does not appoint states. Instead, we chose a more reliable path, starting with the declaration of our territory and conducting separate negotiations with representatives of different countries."
Many legal professionals see no formal obstacle to this audacious plan. Mark Sandal of Cleveland-Marshall College of Law compared the space state to the Wild West, whose laws were invented on the fly. And this moment is not so far: Asgardia-1 - a compact nanosatellite consisting of two CubeSat platforms - will be launched by the Cygnus spacecraft, which will start in September 2017. It will deliver cargo to the ISS, and then ascend to a higher orbit, where it will complete the mission, including the dispatch of Asgardia-1. The device should work for more than a year, carrying 512 GB of data on board.
Asgardia: Permanent Residential Space Platform Concept
Ordinary Asgardians are invited to fill the satellite's solid-state drive with their files and data or personal information that fits into a certain amount - 500 KB for the first hundred thousand citizens, 300 KB for the next four hundred thousand and 100 KB for another million. While Asgardia-1 will remain in orbit, these data will be accessed via the Globalstar telecommunications satellites. It will also house a radiation detector "to determine the dose received by internal electronic systems" and "to demonstrate the potential for long-term data storage in low Earth orbit."
The last moment confused many observers. The prospect of placing servers with data in orbit - outside the jurisdiction of any government and with direct access from anywhere on Earth - is not to the liking of either intelligence agencies or fighters against Internet piracy. The "flying torrent server" is too reminiscent of an attempt by the already mentioned state of Sealand to earn money by hosting pirated and prohibited content - an attempt that ended tragically. “It was interesting to read about such a hypothesis, which arose, apparently, thanks to journalists who tried to be the first to cover the news of Asgardia and rushed to extrapolate, based on their incomplete data,” comments Lena de Winne. "All this is far from the truth: Asgardia seeks to create a legal system of the cosmic level, and not to violate the legal system of the Earth."
All to the polls
The state is not only a population with a territory, but also functioning institutions. And while preparations are underway for launch, the citizens of Asgardia are engaged in state building. The discussion of the text of the Constitution ended with a universal vote, 11 ministries and the Supreme Court were organized in the country, the flag and coat of arms were adopted. The parliamentary elections started on June 13: 10 votes are enough for the initial registration, and the people's representatives must be elected in four rounds - thousands of Asgardians have already nominated their candidates.
Constitution of Asgardia. Featured Articles
Chapter 2, article 2
Asgardia is the first cosmic, sovereign, free, unitary, legal, social, supra-ethnic, supra-confessional, moral, fair, peaceful, based in its unity on the equality of the dignity of each person, looking into the future and endless space of the Universe - the Space Kingdom.
Some states (among them the USSR can be remembered) were formed in approximately the same "prior arrangement". Their creators first declared sovereignty in a certain territory, and received recognition only later, in the course of many years and often difficult negotiations. The citizens of Asgardia hope that they will be able to repeat this path, taking a place among the peoples of the world.
But even if the undertaking fails, the attempt to create an "orbital nation" will be useful to all mankind. It will allow us to evaluate and work out many legal aspects of space exploration and exploitation of its resources, issues that humanity will inevitably face in the future. “We have to leave Earth because it is in the nature of humanity,” says one of Asgardia's key experts, Ram Jakhu, head of the Institute of Air and Space Law at McGill University. My Asgardian passport is base number 5944. Read, be jealous.
Chapter 2, article 5
The territory of Asgardia in the legal aspect is a digital state with living citizens on Earth; in the scientific and technical aspect, it is a state implemented in near-earth orbit in the form of a satellite or a space orbital constellation; on the ground; further on the moon and other cosmic bodies.
Chapter 3, article 6
Any citizen of Asgardia can be any inhabitant of the Earth over 18 years old, who has accepted the Declaration of Unity of Asgardia, its Constitution and consciously submitted his personal digital data to the Asgardian Space Knowledge Base.
Chapter 6, article 24
The state of Asgardia uses public and private resources to build and operate systems to protect planet Earth from threats emanating from outer space independently, as well as in cooperation with the states of planet Earth and international organizations in accordance with bilateral and multilateral agreements.
Some states (among them the USSR can be remembered) were formed in approximately the same "prior arrangement". Their creators first declared sovereignty in a certain territory, and received recognition only later, in the course of many years and often difficult negotiations. The citizens of Asgardia hope that they will be able to repeat this path, taking a place among the peoples of the world.
But even if the undertaking fails, the attempt to create an "orbital nation" will be useful to all mankind. It will allow us to evaluate and work out many legal aspects of space exploration and exploitation of its resources, issues that humanity will inevitably face in the future. “We have to leave Earth because it is in the nature of humanity,” says one of Asgardia's key experts, Ram Jakhu, head of the Institute of Air and Space Law at McGill University. My Asgardian passport is base number 5944. Read, be jealous.
Roman Fishman