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.
At this week’s Asgardia conference in Germany, he acknowledged the inherent “giggle factor” in discussing Moon bases and procreation in space.
But a closer look shows he is backed by distinguished academics and business people when he says the development of technology for living in space is not simply a flight of fancy. Thinking hard about the laws and politics needed to ensure successful and peaceful governance is equally crucial.
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Former Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Opik was last year appointed chairman of the parliament of Asgardia (Photo: Asgardia)
Stephen Hawking noted that it is a question of when, not if, Earth ceases to be habitable. If climate change or nuclear armageddon doesn’t get us, pestilence, an asteroid or super volcano probably will.
Creating the right legal, technological and political environment for life beyond Earth asap makes perfect sense.
Asgardia’s population is up to a million from just a quarter of that a year ago. By 2030, nation leader Igor Raufovich Ashurbeyli expects 150 million utopians from around the world to have applied for citizenship.
When that happens, it will have the diplomatic clout to match its academic credentials and good intentions, or so he hopes. It might also be in the position to offer the governance that commercial interests from Elon Musk to Jeff Bezos will need to operate.
Asgardia might have started as a utopian dream. But as security in space becomes an ever-more pressing issue, its ideas are starting to look like something we can’t do without.
Mr Opik told i: “I really, really think this is going to work.” He could have the last laugh. And let’s hope he does – for all our sakes.
Michael Day. inews.co.uk