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Igor Raufovich Ashurbeyli (Azerbaijani: İqor Rauf oğlu Aşurbəyli;, Russian: Игорь Рауфович Ашурбейли; born 9 September 1963) is an Azerbaijani-Russian scientist, businessman and a Head of the micronation Asgardia, the Space Nation. He is also the leader of the Party of Russia's Rebirth since 2016.

He was the CEO of Scientific Production Association (SPA) Almaz from 2000 to 2011. He is also the founder and chairman of the board of Socium Holding. He has a Doctorate of Science in engineering and a PhD in engineering, with a specialization in computer science.

Biography

Igor Ashurbeyli was born on 9 September 1963, in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, a descendant of the Azerbaijani noble family of Ashurbeyov. He graduated from the Azerbaijan State Oil Academy in 1985.

In 1988, under the Soviet Union's then-new economic policies, he founded Socium, a small software company, serving as its first General Manager. It later became Socium Holding, a holding company with over 10,000 employees at over 30 companies, where Ashurbeyli services as chairman of the board.

In 1990, Ashurbeyli moved to Moscow. Starting in 1994, he held the positions of deputy general manager, first deputy general manager, and chairman of the board at SPA Almaz (later rebranded as GSKB Almaz-Antey), later becoming its chief executive officer (CEO) from 2000 to 2011. Ashurbeyli resigned from SPA Almaz in 2011. From 2011, he was the chairman of the board and scientific supervisor of KB-1 (Design Bureau-1), a privately held company.

From 2004, Ashurbeyli was the chairman of the board of the nonprofit non-government Expert Society on Space Threat Defense (ESSTD). In 2015, ESSTD was granted special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

He was awarded the Russian Federation Government Prize in Science and Technology of 2009. On 5 February 2016, Ashurbeyli was awarded the UNESCO Medal for contributions to the development of nanoscience and nanotechnologies during a ceremony held at UNESCO headquarters, Paris, France.

Igor Ashurbeyli founded the Aerospace International Research Center in Vienna, Austria, in 2013. In 2014, the center began publication of an international space journal, ROOM, of which Ashurbeyli is the editor-in-chief. In July 2018, Aerospace International Research Center was renamed to Asgardia Independent Research Center.

On 12 October 2016, Igor Ashurbeyli announced in a press conference in Paris, France, "the birth of the new space nation Asgardia." The project is officially called the "Space Kingdom of Asgardia." The ultimate aim of the project is to create a new nation that allows access to outer space free of the control of existing nations. On 25 June 2018, in Vienna, Austria in Hofburg Palace, Igor Ashurbeyli was inaugurated as Asgardia's Head of Nation.

Asgardia intends to launch a series of satellites into Earth orbit. Going forward, the Asgardia team hopes to create habitable platforms in low-earth orbits, which is also where the International Space Station is located. "It's not a fantasy. Going to Mars, the galactics, so on—that's just fake. I intend something more real," Igor Ashurbeyli told CNN in June 2017.

The Cygnus spacecraft that carried Asgardia-1 into space released Asgardia-1 and two other satellites on 12 November 2017. The Space Kingdom of Asgardia has claimed that it is now "the first nation to have all of its territory in space." Legal scholars doubt that Asgardia-1 can be regarded as a sovereign territory.

Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society Council in the state of Israel

On 25 December 2015, Ashurbeyli became the Chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (IOPS) Council in the state of Israel, which was created in 2015 as an IOPS directorate in the State of Israel to manage the St. Sergius Metochion in Jerusalem, which opened in July 2017 after repairs and restoration was completed in November 2016, and to support religious tourism and pilgrimage from the Russian Federation into Israel. In 2015, as IOPS Chairman Sergey Stepashin and Minister of Culture of Russia Vladimir Medinsky signed a Program of Joint Actions for the Development of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage from the Russian Federation which supported the repairs and restoration which led to the establishment of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (IOPS) Council in the state of Israel. For many years in support of Russia foreign policy, the IOPS has conducted charitable activities of the Russian Federation in the countries of the Middle East and is pivotal in collecting and delivering humanitarian aid to Syrians in Syria and Palestinians in Palestine including Gaza and the West Bank. Ashurbeyli lives in Russia not the Middle East but often travels for business from Russia to the Middle East, the State of Israel, and Jerusalem in support of IOPS activities.

Politics

On 17 June 2016, Ashurbeyli was elected new leader of the Party of Russia's Rebirth after the death of Gennady Seleznyov.

See also

• Asgardia the Space Nation
• GSKB Almaz-Antey

References

1. ^ Matthew Vella. Russian military entrepreneur sets up Malta base. — Malta Today, 23 June 2015
2. ^ Taisiya Bekbulatova. The space kingdom of Asgardia. — Meduza, 23 january 2018
3. Sustainable development of the Socium Holding. — The Socium Holding
4. The Board of Directors meeting Archived 8 July 2023 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian). — GSKB Almaz-Antey, 4 February 2011
5. ^ Bill Harby. Asgardia: The problems in building a space society. — BBC, 3 August 2018
6. Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations Recommends Special Consultative Status for 55 Entities, Defers Action on 45, in Second Day of Session. — United Nations, 28 January 2015
7. Russian Federation Government Decree No. 333-р as of 17 March 2010 "On winning a Russian Federation Government Prize in Science and Technology of 2009" (in Russian). — Rossiyskaya Gazeta (an official newspaper of the Government of the Russian Federation), 26 March 2010
8. ^ Andrea Lo. Asgardia: the world's first space nation. — CNN, 20 June 2017
9. Fifth UNESCO Medals for contributions to the development of nanoscience and nanotechnologies ceremony. — UNESCO, 5 February 2016
10. ^ Daniel Clery. Space oddity: Group claims to have created nation in space. — Science Magazine, 12 October 2016
11. "Asgardia Independent Research Center. About". Archived from the original on 11 September 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
12. Scientists plan to create 'Asgardia' nation state in space. — BBC, 13 October 2016
13. Dave Mosher. A multinational group wants you to join 'Asgardia'—the first outer space nation with a mission to defend Earth. — Business Insider Australia, 13 October 2016
14. The Constitution of the Space Kingdom of Asgardia
15. Sarah Knapton. Scientists propose space nation named ‘Asgardia’ and cosmic shield to protect Earth from asteroids. — The Telegraph, 12 October 2016
16. Nicola Davis. Will you become a citizen of Asgardia, the first nation state in space? — The Guardian, 12 October 2016
17. First in history Inauguration of the Head of the First Space Nation Asgardia. — Asgardia.Space
18. A moment in space and time. — Room, The Space Journal, Issue No. 2 (16) 2018
19. Eric Mack. Space nation Asgardia ready to launch itself into orbit. — CNET, 13 June 2017
20. Leah Crane. The 'space nation' Asgardia just launched its first satellite. — New Scientist, 13 November 2017.
21. Dave Mosher. The 'space kingdom' Asgardia says it's the first nation with all of its territory in orbit—but legal experts are dubious. — Business Insider, 8 December 2017.
22. "ИППО в Государстве Израиль:" [IOPS in the State of Israel:]. Императорское Православное Палестинское Общество (ИППО) (ippo.ru) (in Russian). April 2024. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
23. ^ "Об ИППО: «Не умолкну ради Сиона и ради Иерусалима не успокоюсь»" [About IOPS: "I Will Not Be Silent for Zion's Sake, and I Will Not Rest for Jerusalem's Sake"]. IOPS website (ippo.ru) (in Russian). 27 March 2024. Archived from the original on 27 March 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
24. "Устав Императорского Православного Палестинского Общества на официальном портале ИППО" [Charter of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society on the official portal of the IOPS]. Императорское Православное Палестинское Общество (ИППО) (ippo.ru) (in Russian). April 2024. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
25. "Партия возрождения России" выбрала нового лидера

External links

• Official English website Archived 31 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine
• Official Russian website

• 1963 births
• Living people
• Azerbaijani engineers
• Businesspeople from Moscow
• Engineers from Baku
• Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia)
• Recipients of the Medal of Zhukov
• Micronational leaders
• Asgardia
• Ashurbeyli family