Asgardia, a private ‘space nation’ founded by a group of scientists, is hoping to launch a data storage satellite that will be out of the reach of Earth’s regulations. “If Asgardia can find a launching country that is not a signatory to the space treaties, there are no international law obligations,” Mark Sundahl, a professor of space law at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, told Vice’s Motherboard. Asgardia is a nation that is “to be a permanent space station that will run asteroid mining missions, and provide defence for Earth against meteorites, space debris, and other serious threats,” according to Futurism.