The Supreme Space Council (SSC) of Asgardia comprises Dr Igor Ashurbeyli, Head of Nation of Asgardia, Lembit Öpik, Chair of Parliament of Asgardia, Lena De Winne, Prime Minister of Asgardia, Yun Zhao, Supreme Justice of Asgardia, and Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu, Head of Administration to the Head of Nation of Asgardia.

The draft Declaration of Independence, presented to the meeting by Dr Ashurbeyli, proclaims the Space Nation’s full state sovereignty and encourages the planet Earth states to conclude bilateral agreements on mutual recognition and further cooperation.

In doing so it corroborates of the principles laid down in the Declaration of Unity and the Constitution of Asgardia, each of which was adopted by universal vote of Asgardians in June 2017.

There are so many concerns about the natural resources of the Earth, but Opik says that it’s not quite a problem. Our problem is a potential asteroid that can destroy our Earth. He then said that we should not think of the “if”, but of the “when”.

Artificial gravity will serve on future space exploration missions the same critical role life support systems do. Not only will artificially induced gravity simulate the homely effects of Earth’s 1G environment. But a well understood and implemented system will help reduce the painful side-effects of long-term exposure to microgravity.

Dr Jack Von Loon of the Amsterdam University Medical Centre believes it is “unethical” to deprive future generations of spacefarers of the basic comfort.

The first baby could be born in space within the next 12 years, an expert has said.

Dr Egbert Edelbroek, founder and chief executive of SpaceBorn United, said the company is designing missions where pregnant women can give birth in orbit.

The aim is not currently for the whole pregnancy to take place in space, but instead a 24- to 36-hour mission for the labour.

A former MP has ticked off everything on his earthly “political bucket list”, and says now the rest of the universe remains.

Lembit Opik, an ex-Liberal Democrat MP, is chairman of parliament for space nation Asgardia.

He has politically achieved all he wants to on earth, and is now hoping to make an impact in space.

It is tempting to chuckle at the would-be space nation of Asgardia. Its physical presence currently consists of a 3kg satellite the size of a shoebox, circulating in low-Earth orbit.

It is easy to laugh, too, at Lembit Opik, the former Lib Dem MP-cum reality TV star, who has now popped up as the space nation’s parliamentary speaker.

And there’s no room for that kind of thinking if we’re all going to live off-world. In fact, the ‘huge baggage’ of our earthly problems has been condemned by the founder of the first ever ‘space nation’. In October 2016 Russian billionaire Dr Igor Ashurbeyli announced the creation of Asgardia, and in June 2018 he was inaugurated as its head.

In October 2016 Russian billionaire Dr Igor Ashurbeyli announced the creation of Asgardia, and in June 2018 he was inaugurated as the head of the space nation.

There are currently 20,000 verified citizens from around 200 countries, who have each received a Certificate of Asgardia.

Opening Asgardia’s first Space Science and Investment Congress in Darmstadt, Germany, Dr ​Ashurbeyli set out the priorities as long-term space exploration and settlement in space.

Dr Igor Ashurbeyli, who founded the Asgadia space nation, has pointed out that the satellites which operate mobile phone systems, televisions, radio signals, aeroplanes, electricity grids, street lights, pipelines and other vital infrastructure services are all under threat from a collision from space debris. He has urged world governments to take the issue far more seriously or face a potential global disaster. The problem of space debris was immortalised in the film Gravity, starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock where the two play astronauts trapped in orbit after a blown up satellite destroys their Apollo craft.

That is the vision of Dr Igor Ashurbeyli, a Russian-Azerbaijani billionaire and head of the newest nation on earth: Asgardia.

If this is already sounding a little far-fetched, consider Dr Ashurbeyli’s incredulous reaction when I ask him when his dream will become a reality. “It already is a reality,” insists the 55-year-old, in the suite of a five-star hotel in Vienna, where his government gathered last week for its first executive congress.

As of today, I’m an official citizen of two nations. One is the US, which has 325 million citizens and an area of almost 10 million sq km. The other is Asgardia, which has some 246,000 citizens, but physically exists for now only in the form of a 6lb (2.7kg) bread-box-size satellite floating in low-Earth orbit since November 2017.

One day, Asgardia plans to have an enormous “space ark” orbiting our home world, a colony on the Moon, and perhaps even further in the future on other “celestial bodies”, according to the constitution.

The new head of nation, Igor Ashurbeyli—a Russian scientist, billionaire and philanthropist—took anoath of office duringan event with no shortage ofpomp and circumstance. He went on to unveilambitious goalsfor the first space nation: notably,to havepermanently inhabited space stations in low Earth orbit and stationary settlements on the Moon within the next 25 years.

"We have established all branches of a nation,"Ashurbeylisaidin a speech at the ceremony."I can declare that Asgardia has been born."

Asgardia—named after Asgard, a sky city in Norse mythology which was said to housethe gods—was founded by Ashurbeyli and several prominent space experts in October 2016.

La toute première "nation spatiale" voit le jour ce lundi 25juin 2018. Du nom d'Asgardia, ce pays situé autour de la Terre a été créé par l'homme d'affaires russo-azerbaïjanais Igor Ashurbeyli, qui s'est d'ailleurs auto-proclamé roide cette nouvelle nation. Avec pour devise "Une Humanité, une Communauté", Asgardia est un royaume qui n'est reconnu par aucun pays de la communauté internationale.

This day will certainly be recorded in the annals of the greatest events in the history of humankind.

Just twenty months have passed since the announcement was made of the creation Asgardia. It is no longer just an idea, on the contrary, now there are some 200,000 Asgardians in more than 200 countries of the world; we have our own territory on the Asgardia-I satellite, a Constitution, a flag, an anthem, a coat of arms and our own calendar.