Forget leaving the European Union, how about leaving Planet Earth entirely – and becoming a citizen of space?

artbreaking note found in debris of Grenfell Tower

The idea might sound like something from Star Trek – but people are clearly keen (and frankly, looking at how things are down here, who can blame them?)

In fact, 500,000 people tried to sign up to become citizens of the first off-world ‘space nation’ – Asgardia – when it launched last October

The group, the brainchild of billionaire Russian computer scientist Dr Igor Ashurbeyli, now has almost 200,000 verified citizens from around 200 countries, who have each received a Certificate of Asgardia.

In September, Asgardia will send its ‘foundation stone’ into orbit.

The micro-satellite, Asgardia-1, will carry personal data freely uploaded by up to 1.5 million Asgardians.

The launch, 60 years after the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, was sent into orbit, will mark the first small step in a programme to establish an independent space-based country recognised by the United Nations.

Dr Ashurbeyli said: ‘Asgardia-1 will mark the beginning of a new space era, taking our citizens into space in virtual form, at first.

‘Asgardia-1 will contain data stored for free for up to 1.5 million Asgardians on board the satellite. 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.

‘Asgardia-1 is our first, small step which we hope will lead to a giant leap forward for mankind.’