The dream is grand: the first nation state in space. The name of this haven for technocracy is grander still: Asgardia, inspired by Asgard, heavenly home of the Nordic gods where lies the great hall, Valhalla.

But the start of this dream will be mundane: a small, prototype satellite in low Earth orbit to be launched by 2018 that will be the first piece of real estate in space this new space nation will own.

After the lawyers sort out all the legal niceties (such as marriage in space and laws governing human frailties such as murder), the scientists will set out to build what might be the biggest space station mankind has yet seen — Asgardia.

And Asgardia will build a planet wide shield protecting the Earth from end-of-the world asteroids, and probably an alien invasion.