An odd but intriguing experiment in technology, diplomacy, governance and space
exploration, among other things, has officially begun its journey.
After being delayed one day, an Orbital ATK Antares rocket carrying a cubesat named Asgardia-1 launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia early Sunday. The milk carton-sized satellite makes up the entirety of territory of the self-proclaimed "Space Kingdom" of Asgardia.
"Asgardia space kingdom has now established its sovereign territory in space," read an online statement.
Over 300,000 people signed up online to become "citizens" of the nation over the last year. The main privilege of citizenship so far involves the right to upload data to Asgardia-1 for safekeeping in orbit, seemingly far away from the pesky governments and laws of Earth-bound countries. https://www.cnet.com/news/asgardia-1-space-kingdom-nasa-orbital-atk-launch-nation/
