Sweden became the 38th country to sign the Artemis Accords on Tuesday. Currently, the United States, India and Japan are the only leading spacefaring nations to sign the accords.
NASA on Tuesday welcomed Sweden as the 38th country to sign the Artemis Accords. The accords are a series of non-binding arrangements aimed at setting down norms to be followed in outer space.
“NASA welcomes Sweden to the Artemis Accords family,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a press statement. “Our nations have worked together to discover new secrets in our Solar System, and now, we welcome you to a global coalition that is committed to exploring the heavens openly, transparently, responsibly, and in peace. The United States and Sweden share the same bedrock principles, and we’re excited to expand these principles to the cosmos.”
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The Artemis Accords were initially announced by NASA and the US Department of State in 2020 and it now has 38 signatories, including India and Japan. It provides for the implementation of key obligations from the 1967 Outer Space Treaty and reinforces commitment to the Registration Convention, the Rescue and Return Agreement and also best practices of responsible behaviour, including the public release of scientific data.
The Artemis Accords come at a time when a new space race is heating up but this time, with different members. While the United States continues to maintain its leading edge in space exploration, China is catching up quickly. While Russia has inherited the position of the Soviet Union, it is failing to replicate the success of its predecessor and this was made clear during the failure of the Luna-25 mission and with many issues on Russian sections of the International Space Station.
Both India and Japan are also emerging as contenders in this new race as both countries have managed to successfully soft-land a spacecraft on the Moon. Among the leading spacefaring nations in the world, only the United States, India and Japan are party to the Artemis Accords at the moment.
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First uploaded on: 18-04-2024 at 13:37 IST
