What are the Artemis Accords?
The Artemis Accords are a collection of statements that outline general principles, guidelines, and best practices applicable to the safe exploration of the Moon and ultimately beyond as humanity extends its life. Void missions and how far to reach them Mars.
While NASA driving Artemis programwhich aims to usher in a new era of space exploration and place the first woman and person of color on the moon in 2024, international partnerships with many countries and private companies are vital to its success.
Initiated by NASA, the goal of the agreements is to establish a common set of principles to ensure that missions under the Artemis mission umbrella are carried out responsibly.
Related: The 10 greatest photos from NASA’s Artemis 1 moon mission
Under joint leadership by NASA and the US State Department, the Artemis Accords are signed at the national level rather than at the organizational level, and the countries that sign the agreement do so on a voluntary basis.
“Artemis will be the broadest and most diverse international human space exploration program in history, and the Artemis Accords will be the vehicle that will create this unique global alliance,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. He said in 2020 (Opens in a new tab) When the agreements were established. “With today’s signing, we are uniting with our partners to explore Moon They lay out vital principles that will create a safe, peaceful, and prosperous future in space for all of humanity to enjoy.”
The Origins of the Artemis Accords
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A key tenet of the Artemis Accords is to stress the importance of states’ compliance with the 1967 Outer Space Treaty (or the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies give it its full title).
In addition, the agreements underscore the importance of the Rescue and Return Agreement, inaugurated in 1968, which emphasizes the responsibility of nations to safely return astronauts and equipment to space. a land and other policies related to space such as the 1972 Liability Agreement and the 1975 Registration Agreement.
The Artemis Accords were first launched and signed by eight countries in October 2020, with representatives of the signatories meeting in person for the first time at the International Astronautical Congress in Paris on September 19, 2022.
In scope, the agreements relate to activities in orbit, on the surface and in the interior of the Moon, Mars, cometsAnd asteroids. It also covers the stable orbital points known as the Lagrangian points of the Earth-Moon system and is applied to objects transiting between these celestial bodies and locations.
What do the Artemis accords say?
In the Artemis Accords document (Opens in a new tab)NASA lays out the basic principles of the Artemis Accords as follows:
- Peaceful exploration of space: States agree that all activities conducted under the Artemis Program must be carried out for peaceful purposes and in accordance with international law.
- Transparency: Signatory states must conduct their activities in a transparent manner in the hope that this will prevent both confusion and conflict. This also extends to signatories who exchange scientific information with the public and the international scientific community on a good faith basis. Signatories must apply this even to competing projects and are expected to coordinate the publication of research and papers with each other. The agreements state: “The signatories of the Artemis Accords are committed to making scientific information public, allowing the whole world to join us on the Artemis journey.”
- compatibility: The agreements state that nations participating in the Artemis program should aim to develop and provide support for systems that can operate in conjunction with existing infrastructure and, hopefully, enhance the safety of space operations and the sustainability of these missions.
- Emergency assistance: Nations signatories to the Artemis Accords are committed to assisting astronauts and individuals in outer space in distress.
- Registration of space objects: Artemis participating states should decide which of them should register any relevant space object.
- Heritage Preservation: The signatories of the Artemis Accords committed themselves to preserving humanity’s heritage in outer space. This includes sites of historical interest such as human or robotic landing sites, artifacts, spacecraft, and other evidence of activity on other celestial bodies.
- space resources: The signatories to the agreement affirm that the extraction and use of space resources from the aforementioned celestial bodies is vital to support safe and sustainable space exploration. They also commit to informing the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the public and the scientific community of space resource extraction activities.
- Non-conflict of activities: Artemis countries are obligated to prevent harmful interference and to exercise the principle of due consideration. This also includes the creation of so-called “safety zones” with zones that can be created between countries and that can be terminated when related operations cease.
- Orbital debris: Artemis Convention nations are obligated to plan for safe and efficient disposal of debris as part of the mission planning process. Signatories to the agreements also agree on the need to limit the generation of new, long-lived or harmful debris. This includes the safe disposal of space structures in post-mission operations
What countries participate in the Artemis Accords?
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At the time of writing, NASA said 23 countries have signed the Artemis Accords including the US, UK, Japan, Italy, Canada and Brazil. On December 13, 2022 at the US/Africa Space Forum held in Washington, D.C., Nigeria and Rwanda became the first African country to sign the agreements.
According to NASA (Opens in a new tab) As of January 3, 2023, countries have signed the Artemis Accords as follows:
- Australia
- the two seas
- Brazil
- Canada
- Colombia
- France
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Luxembourg
- Mexico
- New Zealand
- Nigeria
- Poland
- The Republic of Korea
- Romania
- Rwanda
- Saudi Arabia
- Singapore
- Ukraine
- The United Arab Emirates
- United kingdom
- United States of America
Additional sources
The Artemis mission represents the next exciting steps for humanity in space exploration with an emphasis on diversity. to Read how you will proceed (Opens in a new tab) Visit the NASA Artemis website. Artemis is the natural successor to Apollo program that also carried humanity to the moon. Learn more about the Apollo missions here Resources from NASA (Opens in a new tab). here.
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artemis accords, [Accessed 01/03/23]And [https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis-accords/img/Artemis-Accords-signed-13Oct2020.pdf (opens in new tab)]
Artemis Accords, NASA Artemis, [Accessed 01/03/23]And [https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis-accords/index.html (opens in new tab)
The Artemis Accords, Gov.co.uk, [Accessed 01/03/23]And https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-artemis-accords (Opens in a new tab)
Gateway MOU and Artemis Accords – Frequently Asked Questions, ESA, [Accessed 01/03/23]And https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Gateway_MoU_and_Artemis_Accords_FAQs (Opens in a new tab)
First Meeting Signatories of the Artemis Accords, US Department of State, [Accessed 01/03/23]And [https://www.state.gov/first-meeting-of-artemis-accords-signatories (opens in new tab)]