WASHINGTON — Panama and Austria signed the Artemis Accords Dec. 11 as the document, outlining principles for responsible space exploration, hit a milestone of 50 signatories.
In separate ceremonies at NASA Headquarters, Panama’s and Austria’s ambassadors to the United States signed the Accords. The document, which the United States and seven other nations initially signed in 2020, describes best practices that countries commit to following in spaceflight in areas ranging from sharing of scientific data to utilization of space resources.
With the addition of the two countries, 50 nations have now signed the Accords, a milestone celebrated by NASA. “Can you believe it, 50? This is almost a quarter of all of the nations of the world,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in remarks at the signing ceremony for Austria, the 50th signatory of the Accords. “These 50 nations have affirmed that the challenges of our time, including the challenge of exploration, are faced best when we face them together in the spirit of collaboration rather than go it alone.”
“The Artemis Accords stand at the center of our civil space diplomacy efforts,” said Jennifer Littlejohn, acting assistant secretary of the State Department’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, at the Austria signing event. She noted that the Accords signatories include a wide range of countries, from major spacefaring powers to smaller nations just beginning space activities.
Austria, for example, is a member of the European Space Agency and the European Union and hosts the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and its Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).
“Austria is excited to deepen its international collaboration in space exploration,” Petra Schneebauer, Austria’s ambassador to the United States, said at the ceremony. “We believe that the Artemis Accords is a complementary framework to enrich and complement the work of UN COPUOS.”
Panama, which signed the Accords a few hours before Austria, is a newcomer to space, having joined COPUOS only in 2021. “This moment represents far more than a diplomatic signature. It is a bold commitment to peaceful exploration, scientific discovery and international collaboration,” said José Miguel Alemán Healy, Panama’s ambassador to the United States, in a statement.
“Numbers do matter, and the more countries that sign the Accords the stronger their influence will be to support vital principles such as transparency, the utilization of space resources, and interoperability,” Mike Gold, chief growth officer at Redwire and a former NASA official who spearheaded the development of the Accords, told SpaceNews. “With 50 countries, the Artemis Accords are creating important precedent that will impact and influence even nations that aren’t acting in a responsible fashion in space.”
Passing the baton
With Austria and Panama, 17 countries have signed the Accords this year, more than in any previous year. A third of all signatories to the Accords have done so this year.
“I think the reason that the numbers are growing is that it’s a testament to the recognition of what the Accords stand for, the shared values of safety, transparency and sustainability,” said Valda Vikmanis, director of the State Department’s Office of Space Affairs, during a panel discussion at the SpaceNews Icon Awards Dec. 6. “Also, the recognition that there is real value in bringing together like-minded countries to have these discussions.”
She noted that meetings of Artemis Accords signatories provide an opportunity to discuss those issues “in a way that perhaps, like a large multilateral for a like COPUOS, doesn’t afford that same sort of frankness and opportunity.”
She added that she expected that pace to continue even through the transition of administrations. “Space diplomacy is an incredibly powerful tool,” she said, one that the United States uses to “ensure that our own interests are well represented, that our commercial sector is supported and can thrive, that we’re keeping a safe, transparent, sustainable space environment.”
Nelson, speaking with reporters after the Austria singing ceremony, compared the development of the Artemis Accords to a relay race, with the baton being handed from one administration to the next. The first Trump administration “started the formalization of it with eight, and they handed the baton to us,” he said. “We did another 42. We will hand the baton off to the new administration and it will continue.”
Gold said he is looking ahead to the next milestone for the Artemis Accords. “While I’m thrilled for the Accords to have garnered 50 signatories, the number that I’m most excited about is 52, since at that point a majority of the members of COPUOS will have signed the Accords, which, again, creates a powerful precedent to support a future of peace and prosperity.”
That could come soon. “I think in the next few weeks,” Nelson said in remarks at Austria’s signing ceremony, “you’re going to see a few more.”