15
ISSUES: Citizenship
Chapter 1: Citizenship in the UK
“When
the
number
of
those
applications goes above 100,000 we
can officially apply to the UN for the
status of state,” he added.
According to the project website: “Any
human living on Earth can become
a citizen of Asgardia,” with the site
featuring a simple registration form.
At the time of writing more than 1,000
individuals had already signed up.
When asked why people should
register to become citizens of
Asgardia, Ashurbeyli said: “I do believe
that as soon as this country becomes
a part of the UN family, citizenship
of that country will be really quite
prestigious.”
A
Russian
businessman
and
nanoscientist who also founded the
Vienna-based Aerospace International
Research Center and is currently
chairman of UNESCO’s Science of
Space committee, Ashurbeyli says the
project aims to open up a conversation
about regulations surrounding space
activity.
At present, the Outer Space Treaty
that underpins international space law
states that responsibility and liability
for objects sent into space lies with the
nation that launched them.
But the project team claim that
Asgardia will set a new precedent,
shifting responsibility to the new
“space nation” itself.
“The existing state agencies represent
interests of their own countries and
there are not so many countries in
the world that have those space
agencies,” said Ashurbeyli.
“The ultimate aim is to create a legal
platform to ensure protection of
planet Earth and to provide access to
space technologies for those who do
not have that access at the moment.”
Christopher Newman, an expert
in space law at the UK’s University
of Sunderland, said the project
reflects the fact that the geopolitical
landscape of space activity has
changed since the Outer Space Treaty
was drawn up in the 1960s.
But, he added, it was not clear how
Asgardia would fit into current
international regulations, with the
project facing significant hurdles,
from getting UN recognition for
Asgardia, to issues around liability.
“It is an exciting development in many
ways because it will be interesting to
see how this goes,” said Newman.
“But there are formidable obstacles
in international space law for them
to overcome. What they are actually
advocating is a complete re-visitation
of the current space law framework.”
Ashurbeyli says the hope is that
Asgardia will eventually become an
official “launch state”. But, he admits,
at least in the short term, cooperation
from other countries will be required.
While the project’s proposals remain
vague, the vision for Asgardia is lofty.
The team say that one of their early
plans is to create “a state-of-the-art
protective shield for all humankind
from cosmic, manmade and natural
threats to life on Earth.” Such threats,
they say, include the dangers posed
by space junk, and even asteroids. But,
at present, details remain hazy about
what form such a shield could take.
And while the project does not
currently include plans to set up
an Asgardian settlement in space,
Ashurbeyli believes life beyond Earth
will be vital to the future of humankind.
“We are laying the foundations tomake
that possible in the distant future,” he
said.
12 October 2016
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The
above
information
is
reprinted with kind permission
from
The Guardian
. Please visit
for
further information.
© 2016 Guardian News and
Media Limited
