Estonia Joins Artemis Accords
Artemis Signatories (NASA)
On Sunday, October 13th, NASA announced the latest signatory of the Artemis Accords: Estonia. Estonia became the 45th nation to join the Accords on the 4th anniversary of the initial signing. The signing ceremony took place in Milan, Italy, ahead of the 75th IAU Congress. Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator, was one of the witnesses.
The document was signed by Erkki Keldo, Estonia’s Minister of Economy and Industry.
“We welcome Estonia’s signing of the Artemis Accords, which will open the door for more international collaboration,” said Nelson. “This decision also strengthens our family of nations, united by a common cause, and builds on our commitment to explore space for the benefit of humanity under the sound principles of the accords.”
Additionally, NASA reported that Rahima Kandahari, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the U.S. State Department, and Lisa Campbell, President of the Canadian Space Agency, also participated in the event.
“Estonia is well known as the leading country in e-governance, and it is a great honor for us to enter a next level in space exploration, said Keldo. “We are more than interested to sharing our knowledge with the global space community to make future collaboration in space exploration a success for humankind. I am sure that joining the Artemis Accords will open attractive opportunities to Estonian enterprises too, to share their valuable knowledge and competences.”
The news comes just nine days after the Dominican Republic signed the agreement on October 4th.
The Artemis Accords are a set of non-binding agreements drafted by NASA and the U.S. Department of State. They establish a framework for cooperation in the civil exploration and peaceful use of the Moon, Mars, and other astronomical bodies. The agreement was first signed by Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States on October 13, 2020. Since then, 37 nations have joined the accords.
Signatories of the Artemis Accords can participate in the Artemis program or simply commit to its principles.
Source: NASA
