The 'Space Kingdom' Asgardia has its own flag and anthem, but a state it is not

In June, a fledgling nation elected its first parliament. With more than 250,000 citizens, the new country’s population is bigger than that of Samoa. It boasts a flag, constitution and anthem. The catch? Asgardia, the first-ever “Space Kingdom”, is not a country on Earth. It’s based on a satellite currently in low Earth orbit. Asgardia is the brain child of Igor Ashurbeyli, a Russian-Azerbaijani scientist and engineer. Ashurbeyli has long been fascinated with space, but it was his work with nanotechnology that earned him a UNESCO medal in 2016. He’s now the “head of nation” of Asgardia – first self-appointed, later confirmed by Asgardia’s “citizens” in an online vote. Asgardia’s coat of arms bears the motto “One Humanity, One Unity”, and this is Ashurbeyli’s vision: a new nation, free of geographical divisions, with the “opportunity for infinite development”. Its official website maintains that Asgardia is already a country But under international law, it takes more than a government and flag to make a nation. Statehood is the essential foundation of the global political system – states are both the creators and subjects of international law. There are four main criteria of statehood in customary international law, as reflected in the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States – a permanent population, a defined territory, a government and the capacity to enter into relations with other states. So how does Asgardia perform against these criteria?