Switzerland and Sweden have officially joined the Artemis Accords. Thus, the total number of participants has grown to 38 countries.
What are the Artemis Accords?
Artemis Accords are an agreement between the governments of the States participating in the Artemis program. It defines the principles of cooperation and civil activities for the exploration and use of the Moon, Mars, comets and asteroids for peaceful purposes.
The Artemis Accords establish the following set of fundamental principles that should guide all its signatories:
- Peaceful research. All actions taken within the framework of the Artemis program must be carried out exclusively for peaceful purposes.
- Transparency. The parties to the Accords should openly talk about the goals of their activities in order to avoid confusion and conflicts.
- Technical compatibility. The parties to the Accords will use common technical standards, which will ensure the interchangeability of various components and increase the level of safety.
- Emergency assistance. The parties to the Accords are obliged to provide assistance to astronauts in trouble.
- Registration of space objects. The parties to the Accords must sign a Convention on the Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space.
- Publication of scientific data. The parties to the Accords take the obligation to publish the collected scientific information so that it can be used by the whole world.
- Protection of heritage. The parties to the Accords take the obligation to preserve the historical heritage of mankind beyond the Earth.
- Space resources. The extraction and use of the resources of Solar System objects is the key to safe and sustainable space exploration. The parties to the Accords confirm that such activities should be carried out in accordance with the “Outer Space Treaty”.
- Conflict prevention. The parties to the Accords take the obligation to prevent third-party interference in space activities and to maintain the principle of due attention, as required by the “Outer Space Treaty”.
- Space debris. The parties to the Accords take the obligation to ensure the safe disposal of space debris.
New participants in the Artemis Accords
The ceremony of Switzerland’s accession to the Artemis Accords took place on April 15. It was held at NASA headquarters. It was attended by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Swiss Federal Councilor Guy Parmelin. After the ceremony, Nelson noted that Switzerland’s famous neutrality makes it especially significant that it has joined the declaration of principles on the peaceful use of outer space.
Sweden became a participant in the Accords on April 16. The signing ceremony was attended by Swedish Minister of Education Mats Persson and American Ambassador Erik Ramanathan
After the accession of Sweden and Switzerland, the total number of countries that signed the Accords increased to 38. Their participants are the USA, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, India, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, as well as all the leading European countries, including Ukraine.
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