The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) has signed agreements with seven international partners to support Nasa’s Artemis crewed space programme and to establish a set of practical principles for space exploration cooperation between the signatory countries, which will be taking part in Nasa’s lunar exploration programmes during this century. The agreements are called the Artemis Accords and the signatory organisations, apart from Nasa itself, are the Australian Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency, the Italian Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the Luxembourg Space Agency, the United Arab Emirates Space Agency and the UK Space Agency. 

Other countries would be able to join the Artemis Accords in the coming months and years. The accords were in full alignment with, and reinforced, the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. The principles of the accords were peaceful exploration; transparency (especially in the conduct of operations); interoperability of systems; emergency assistance; membership of (or rapidly joining) the convention regarding the registration of space objects; the public release of scientific data; the preservation of Outer Space heritage; exploiting space resources in compliance with the Outer Space Treaty; the deconfliction of activities (to avoid accidents); and planning to safely dispose of space debris.

“Artemis will be the broadest and most diverse international human space exploration programme in history, and the Artemis Accords are the vehicle that will establish this singular global coalition,” highlighted Nasa Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “With today’s [Tuesday’s] signing, we are uniting with our partners to explore the Moon and are establishing vital principles that will create a safe, peaceful, and prosperous future in space for all of humanity to enjoy.”

The Artemis programme would send the first woman and the next man to the surface of the Moon in 2024. Nasa would naturally be the lead agency, but its international partners would play important roles in the establishment of a sustainable and strong human presence on the Moon by the end of this decade, and in preparing for the first human mission to Mars.

The Artemis programme included the creation of a space station orbiting the Moon, designated Lunar Gateway. This would be assembled from a number of modules before the first crewed Lunar landing mission in 2024.

In an announcement about the signing of the Artemis Accords that was separate from, but parallel to, Nasa’s, the UK government pointed out that it had committed more than £16-million (about $21-million) to the first design phase for the Lunar Gateway’s service and habitation modules. This would ensure that British industry would be involved in the development and manufacture of key components for the programme. (The cost to Nasa of the Artemis programme up to and including its first crewed Moon landing in 2024 – which would be the Artemis III mission – was currently estimated at just under $30-billion).

“The prospect of the first woman landing on the Moon in the coming years will be a source of inspiration for thousands of young people across the UK who may be considering a career in space of science,” enthused British Science Minister Amanda Solloway. “Signing the Accords is a strong signal of our intent to take a leading global role in civil space,” stressed UK Space Agency CEO Graham Turnock. “This exciting step could open up new opportunities for UK companies and scientists to be part of Nasa missions to the Moon and Mars.”

The European Space Agency (ESA), which was not part of the European Union, was already involved in the Artemis programme. ESA would be providing the service module for the Orion spacecraft that would carry the Artemis astronauts to the Moon and beyond. Italy, Luxembourg and the UK were all members of ESA (which has a total of 22 member States), while Canada had a cooperation agreement with ESA which allowed it to participate in some ESA programmes.