Asgardia has revealed that it will be launching its first satellite data centre into space in August, in the form of a small CubeSat. The data centre will measure at just 10x10x20cm, at a weight of only 2.8kg.
The Asgardia nation was set up by the Russian computer scientist Dr Igor Ashurbeyli, and has had almost 200,000 verified citizens gathered from around 200 countries.
After the development of Asgardia last year, over 500,000 applications have been received from people that have registered to become citizens of the first ‘space nation.’
According to Ashurbeyli, the first 100,000 people to sign up will be able to transfer 300KB of data into space.
The next 400,000 people will be given 200KB of space and a further million are provided with 100KB.
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In order to make sure all citizens’ data is secure; Asgardia-1 will include a solid hard drive and two particle detectors to measure the radiation levels in space.
This enables citizens to gain set data centre storage space, depending on when they sign up. Although it appears as a small CubeSat the data will be stored in the space-based data centre.
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At a press conference, Ashurbeyli declared June 18th as Asgardian National Unity day, an opportunity for citizens to vote in approval of the constitution, flag and national anthem of Asgardia.
During the conference, Ashurbeyli said: “Last year in Paris, when we launched Asgardia, many people were sceptical that we would ever put anything in space. But I can confidently announce today, that we will be launching a space satellite, Asgardia-1.
“Asgardia-1 is our first, small step which we hope will lead to a giant leap forward for mankind. It will be our foundation stone, from which we will look to create a network of satellites that will help protect our planet against asteroids, solar flares, man-made space debris and other space hazards.”
It is expected that the ‘foundation stone’ satellite will be sent into orbit, with the ability to carry personal data of up to 1.5 million Asgardia citizens. This means a small data centre is expected to appear in space before we know it.
“These are historic days, and your names and data will forever stay in the memory of the new space humanity, as they will be reinstalled on every new Asgardia satellite we launch,” said Ashurbeyli.
