Asteria is a curated registry of named asteroids. At launch, each entry will pair a real, catalogued minor planet with a carefully chosen registry name, recorded as a unique on-chain token and a digital certificate. These docs explain every part of it — the science, the registry, the technology and its limits — in plain language.
What Asteria is#
Asteria sits at the intersection of three things: a registry, a collectible and a field guide to the small worlds of the Solar System.
- A registry. Every entry receives a permanent registry ID (for example
ASR-0001), a registry name, the meaning behind that name and a short story. The registry is the record of who holds which entry and what it has been called. - A digital collectible. Each registry entry is planned to be represented by a unique, non-fungible token, accompanied by a digital certificate that shows the name, the registry ID and the asteroid's key data.
- A field guide. Every listing is built on real astronomy: spectral class, size, albedo, rotation and an orbit you can inspect on its detail page. These docs go deeper, from asteroid basics to orbit classes.
What Asteria is not#
Being precise about the limits matters as much as describing the product. A token from Asteria is a collectible and a registry record — nothing more is promised, and nothing more should be assumed.
| Asteria is not… | Why |
|---|---|
| A deed to an asteroid | Article II of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty rules out national appropriation of celestial bodies, and no private registry — ours included — can grant title to one. See Legal framework. |
| An official naming service | Official minor-planet names are approved by the International Astronomical Union's Working Group Small Bodies Nomenclature (WGSBN). They cannot be bought. Asteria names are registry names. See Registry vs official names. |
| An investment | Tokens are digital collectibles. We make no promise of value, liquidity or resale. See Risk disclosure. |
| A live marketplace — yet | Primary sale and secondary trading are planned for later phases of the roadmap. Prices shown today are indicative. |
| A scientific authority | We do not discover or measure asteroids. Verified entries will cite public sources such as the JPL Small-Body Database and the Minor Planet Center. See Data & sources. |
Who it is for#
Asteria is designed for people who find meaning in the sky and want a considered way to mark it.
- Collectors who value provenance, careful curation and a clear, honest record of what they hold.
- People commemorating a moment — a birth, a partnership, a memory — through a registry name and a personal dedication on the certificate (planned).
- Space enthusiasts and the curious, who can use the catalogue and these docs as a readable introduction to asteroid science, with or without ever holding a token.
- Educators, for whom every entry is a worked example of orbital mechanics and planetary composition.
- Developers and integrators, who will find the token metadata schema and the planned smart-contract architecture documented in full.
How the docs are organised#
The documentation is split into seven sections. Start anywhere — each page links to what comes next.
Reading conventions#
A few terms appear on almost every page. They are used consistently, and deliberately.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Registry name | The name an entry carries inside the Asteria registry and on its token. Never an official IAU name. |
| Registry ID | A permanent identifier in the form ASR-0000. It never changes, even if scientific data is revised. |
| Official designation | The number and/or provisional designation assigned by the Minor Planet Center. Empty for every preview entry. |
| Preview data | Demo values used while the real inventory is verified. Listings that use it carry a "Preview data" indicator. |
| Planned | Anything not yet built or not yet final. Planned details may change after legal and technical review. |
| Indicative price | A guide figure for illustration. Final prices, currency and fees will be confirmed at launch. |
Units follow astronomical convention: distances in astronomical units (AU, the mean Earth–Sun distance of about 149.6 million km), diameters in kilometres, inclinations in degrees, rotation periods in hours and orbital periods in years.
The short version#
If you read nothing else, read this:
- Holding an Asteria token means holding a digital collectible linked to a registry entry — not owning an asteroid.
- An Asteria name is a registry name, not an official name.
- Nothing is for sale yet. The marketplace is planned, and anyone offering an Asteria token today is not offering a genuine one.
- The science is real and checked: orbit classes, periods and magnitudes are derived from the stored data with standard formulas.