Chile and Cyprus sign the Artemis Accords

WASHINGTON — Chile and Cyprus are the latest nations to sign the Artemis Accords for sustainable space exploration, part of surge of new signatories this month.

At a ceremony at NASA Headquarters Oct. 25, Aisén Etcheverry, Chile’s minister of science, technology, knowledge and innovation, signed the Accords on the behalf of that country. The ceremony was attended by Chile’s ambassador to the United States as well as NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Jennifer Littlejohn, acting assistant secretary of the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs of the State Department.

“The signing marks a significant milestone for Chile, particularly as our government is committed to advancing technological development as a key pillar of our national strategy,” Etcheverry said in a statement. “Moreover, this collaboration allows us to contribute to areas of scientific excellence where Chile has distinguished expertise, such as astrobiology, geology, and mineralogy, all of which are critical for the exploration and colonization of space.”

Chile signed the Accords two days after Cyprus did so in an event in Nicosia, the country’s capital. That event was attended by a State Department official while Jim Free, NASA associate administrator, participated virtually.

“As we embark on this exciting journey, we reaffirm our commitment to a safe and responsible space exploration, as well as our strong belief in the importance of international cooperation in ensuring space is utilized to the benefit of all humanity,” Nicodemos Damianou, deputy minister of research, innovation, and digital policy of Cyprus, said in a statement. He added that the country, a member of the European Union, “aspires to play an integral role in the international space community.”

The two countries bring to 47 the number of nations that have signed the Artemis Accords since 2020. Four of those countries have signed in October: the Dominican Republic signed Oct. 4 and Estonia signed Oct. 13, just before Artemis Accords signatories met at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC).

At the IAC meeting, attended by 42 of the 45 countries that had signed the Accords at the time, members discussed implementation details of aspects of the Accords, which outline best practices for sustainable space exploration building on the Outer Space Treaty and other international agreements. They also emphasized efforts to recruit additional countries to sign the Accords.

One issue, officials said at an Oct. 14 media briefing, was the need to build up technical and policy expertise in countries, particularly as the Artemis Accords expands beyond traditional spacefaring nations to those that are only beginning space programs. They noted efforts in regions like Africa and the Asia-Pacific to do so.

“Some of these countries haven’t yet signed the Artemis Accords because they do not fully understand the reasons to be inside it,” said Teodoro Valente, president of the Italian space agency ASI, at the briefing. “This is one of our duties, one of our tasks, to let them know what does it mean, what are the advantages.”