There are now 35 member states of the Artemis Agreement.
Greece is the latest country to join the US space alliance, the Artemis Accords Space.com website. Yorgos Gerapetritisz The Greek Foreign Minister signed the agreement on February 9 at the US State Department, as part of a broader US-Greek strategic dialogue.
Congratulations to Greece on becoming the 35th country to join the Artemis Accords family
– Tell Bill NelsonNASA administrator at the signing ceremony. “The United States and Greece have been long-time partners and friends, and we are pleased to expand this partnership into space. Together we are shaping the future of cooperation in space for the Artemis generation,” he added.
The agreements set out principles for peaceful and responsible space activities and are particularly consistent with NASA's Artemis program on the Moon. As part of the program, the United States will once again send a human to the Moon, lay the foundation for a permanent human presence on the celestial body, and prepare for manned missions to Mars.
America established the Artemis Accords in 2020, and at that time seven other countries joined the initiative in addition to the United States. Today, with the exception of Antarctica, there are countries from every continent that are part of the alliance.
The initiative has a clear competitor, the Chinese-led International Lunar Exploration Station Cooperation Organization (ILRSCO), which has so far been joined by Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, and Venezuela. ILRSCO will coordinate and manage the International Lunar Research Station to be established by the countries concerned in the 2030s.
The Artemis Convention builds on principles set forth in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, according to NASA, and promotes best practices such as releasing scientific data. Key signatories include Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Spain and the United Kingdom.
