Argentina Becomes 28th Artemis Accords Signatory After India

NASA welcomes Argentina as the 28th signatory of its Artemis Accords.

Representatives of Argentina's government signed the space agency's Artemis Accords during a recent ceremony held at Argentina's capital city of Buenos Aires.

Argentina is the fifth Artemis Accords signatory in the last three months, with the Czech Republic, Spain, Ecuador, and India preceding it in May and June.

Towards A Better Future

NASA mentioned in its recent blog post that Argentina's Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation Minister Daniel Filmus, signed the Artemis Accords on July 27 during a ceremony at the Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires. The Minister is accompanied by Argentine President Alberto Fernández, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, and Mark Stanley, the US Ambassador to Argentina.

According to Filmus, the Argentine government's convinced that the Artemis Accords establish a contribution to the development of space activities with peaceful purposes at a global level. He adds that the Accords will increase international cooperation with Argentina.

Nelson mentioned during the ceremony that Argentina decided that the Accords are a set of standards in the exploration of outer space that it wants to be associated with, per the Buenos Aires Herald. He also described the Accords' purpose as "peaceful intentions, helping each other out, commonality of parts to help have common rescues in disasters. Not saying 'This is mine, you stay out' on the moon or any other celestial [bodies]."

Nelson's statement inspired a similar sentiment in President Fernández, who stressed the importance of signing the Accords in his statement. He mentioned that signing it was the key to helping Argentina to move forward in the field of space development.

"We are convinced that it must be a state policy," Fernández added. "We have done a lot to retain our scientists, we have always been interested in science and technology, and we believe that this is the way to go."

The US Department of State praised the development between Argentina and NASA, stating that the US and Argentina have a long history of cooperating in space. The two countries previously cooperated in the field of space geodetic research and satellite-based Earth observations, among others.

The Department of State believes that Argentina's signing of the Accords will lead the two countries into sharing a common understanding and approach to safe and sustainable exploration and use of outer space.

What Are The Artemis Accords?

The Artemis Accords are a set of principles NASA established in coordination with the US Department of State in 2020 and seven other founding member nations, guiding space exploration cooperation among those that signed it, including those participating in its Artemis program.

Countries that signed the Artemis Accords are not necessarily required to participate in the effort to reach space. Rather, it reinforces and implements key obligations in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which dictates that space explorations are carried out for the and in the interests of all countries, per the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs.

The Treaty also stated that outer space would be Humanity's province and free for exploration and use by all nations.