A newly established nation aims to become the first country to be based entirely in space... and over 200,000 people - including thousands of Brits - are on board
IT has thousands of citizens, its own national anthem, a flag and now an elected parliament but Asgardia is, by definition, unlike any other nation on Earth.
Described as the world's first "space kingdom", Asgardia is a would-be nation of 200,000 people which hopes to establish its territory in space within the next 25 years.
The (very) long-term dream is to launch life-sustaining arks in space where Asgardian citizens can live
Full disclosure: I'm a citizen, and I'm in exalted company - former Lib Dem MP and I'm A Celeb Star Lembit Opik and current Tory MP Nigel Evans are my new countrymen.
In fact, as incredible as it sounds, the pair were sworn in yesterday as members of Asgardia's first official parliament.
It sounds like something out of a sci-fi film, but it's a totally serious project, and the new country's founders are even trying to get Asgardia recognised by the UN.
The dream is to recruit the "most creative" people on Earth as Asgardian citizens and then leave the planet behind forever - giving citizens a safe haven from nuclear war, drought or other environmental catastrophes here.
The plan is that we'll colonise other planets or live on vast, life-sustaining space stations called arks - complete with high-tech, futuristic homes and verdant plants designed to reflect the comforts of life on Earth.
That's obviously a long way off, but so far Asgardia - named after the floating city of the gods in Norse mythology - has developed an anthem, constitution and an elected body of leaders.
Anyone can vote for Asgardia's rulers or stand for election by applying for citizenship through their website, which just involves filling out a quick form.
To become an official citizen, you just need to give a few basic personal details, as well as some information about your education, and then wait for your request to be approved.
Asgardia is a would-be nation which has its own head of state, anthem, constitution and 200,000 citizens
As a bit of a space geek, I couldn't resist applying. I never took a gap year and I'd always fancied doing a bit of travelling - and what destination could be more adventurous than the final frontier?
It only took a few hours before I heard back with the good news - I'm in, which means I can vote on the direction of Asgardia's future and, hopefully, be eligible to leave the planet one day when Asgardia's first space expeditions get off the ground.
Lembit Opik, of all people, is among the first members of Asgardia's elected parliament
Putting 150m people in space
Citizens from over 200 territories have applied to become Asgardians, and its current citizen count makes it the 172nd largest country in the world.
Within 10 years, Asgardia's leaders hope to have recruited 150 million people, and the dream is that the first ark - a satellite like the International Space Station - will be able to launch within a few decades' time.
"Low Earth orbit is already well developed in terms of successful short-term human habitation," Lena De Winne, Asgardia’s Deputy Head of Administration, told us. "However, for permanent habitation, we will need to address the issues of a lack of gravity and cosmic radiation.
"We’re planning on building space arks equipped with artificial gravity and shields from cosmic radiation and other space threats to allow for permanent human habitation."
The very-serious people behind this project want to establish a base for humanity in space
So far, the "nation" hasn't put anyone in space, but it has launched its own unmanned satellite, Asgardia-1, which is currently deployed in low-Earth orbit, moving at speeds of 7.6km per second.
Next up, the country plans to establish its own digital currency, dubbed the "solar", and bigger upcoming projects include designing a protective shield to guard humankind from space debris and asteroids.
So far, the UN hasn't let Asgardia into the club of Earth-dwelling nations, but the nation's founder says he is in informal talks with a few heads of state to get Asgardia recognised as a real country.
Billionaire backing
Asgardia is the brainchild of Dr Igor Ashurbeyli, a billionaire Russian-Azerbaijani businessman and scientist who was formally inaugurated as Asgardia's head of state at a grand ceremony at Vienna's Hofburg Palace on Monday.
Bizarrely, he was sworn in by former partner of Cheeky Girl Gabriela Irimia, Lembit Opik - a keen advocate of space exploration and one of Asgardia's most high profile citizens.
While his terrestrial political career is long over, Opik has been successfully elected to one of the 150 seats on the Asgardian parliament, along with Nigel Evans, President of the British Parliamentary Space Committee.
Igor Ashurbeyli has been confirmed as Asgardia's first head of state
“Today, it’s time to open space up economically, socially and culturally for all humankind," Opik says. "That’s Asgardia’s mission.”
“As the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, the country is liberated to invest in a truly global space community, and the Government has recognised this with substantial investment in the UK space sector.
“Asgardia welcomes British citizens who share the dream of human opportunities in space for all countries, not just the privileged few who can afford a presence in space.
"There was a time when only the British Upper Class could travel abroad. Now it’s possible for all to do it."
Dr Yun Zhao, Asgardia’s Head of Supreme Court, told Sun Online: "There is no law that says that a nation should be attached to the surface of the Earth. Therefore, we are able to say that we have our territory free from the surface of the Earth.
"We are a nation whose population happens to reside in different countries—there is no law that says that as a citizen of a nation you must live there, there is no law which states that a nation must be big enough to host all of its citizens at one time."
Escaping a dying planet
Ashurbeyli fears Earth will soon be destroyed by environmental degradation or a catastrophic nuclear war, and so he thinks it's important that humanity can leave the planet before it's too late.
As such, he wants to start again with his own country and put space politics over geopolitics... a grand ambition which he has bankrolled entirely on his own so far.
Who is Igor Ashurbeyli?
A qualified engineer, Azerbaijan-born Dr Igor Ashurbeyli made his fortune in a string of successful tech businesses.
His exact net worth is not known, but it's widely reported that Ashurbeyli is comfortably in the billionaire club.
He founded software company Socium in 1988, before moving to Moscow to work with a string of military and scientific companies.
He's previously worked as a consultant for the UN, advising on how to protect Earth from asteroids and space threats, and he has edited an international space journal, ROOM, since 2014.
Space has been a lifelong passion, and he's poured his own money into Asgardia, which he formally founded around 20 months ago.
In the future, he plans on charging a 100 euro annual citizenship fee, as well as collecting income and business taxes from members, to sustain the grand and expensive Asgardian dream.
There are also plans to one day vet citizens by IQ, but at this point it looks like Asgardia will take anyone they can get, so long as they're committed to a future away from our planet.
The timeline for leaving Earth behind? Just 25 years, by which time Ashurbeyli hopes to establish a permanent human settlement on the moon.
In the meantime, he's trying to find some political backing for Asgardia on the world stage, and iron out pesky admin stuff... like actually building life-supporting arks and getting millions of people into space.
You can track the progress of the Asgardia satellite in real time thanks to the nation's website
thesun.co.uk by George Harrison