Artemis Agreement signatories commit to continued openness and transparency in space endeavours

New York [US], February 13: The signatories of the Artemis Agreements have reiterated their commitment to maintaining openness and transparency regarding their space-related activities and plans. The agreements, launched on 13th October 2020 under the joint leadership of NASA and the U.S. Department of State, aim to guide civil space exploration and its use in the 21st century.
This was stated in a document officially distributed by the United Nations Secretariat today in New York, which summarised the information provided by the signatory countries to the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. In addition to the UAE, the signatories include Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Ecuador, Germany, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Slovenia, Spain, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America, among others.
The document highlighted the results of regular discussions held by the officials of these countries throughout 2024 to support the implementation of the principles of the Artemis Agreements. It noted that, as of January 2025, the number of signatories had risen to 53 countries.
The paper also referred to the support of the signatory countries' officials for several recommendations put forward by the working group during a workshop held in May 2024 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. These included recommendations related to non-interference, enhancing support for scientific data exchange, improving operational practices, and other related matters.
The paper also mentioned that the key officials within the working group had agreed to focus efforts in 2025 on sustainability, with particular attention to areas such as debris mitigation and management of lunar surface and orbital debris. The importance of continuing engagement with emerging space nations, especially at the regional level, was also highlighted to enhance their contributions to the overall work of the Artemis Agreements.
The officials proposed strengthening capacity-building workshops in specific regional areas to help involve emerging space actors in discussions about safe and sustainable space operations.
The document revealed the commitment of the signatories to maintain openness and transparency, especially regarding their space activities, by providing regular reports to the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space to further enhance the committee's work. It also outlined their key recommendations, including non-interference, developing a common understanding of terms, exchanging best practices and information, coordinating with experts, raising awareness, establishing interoperability levels, issuing scientific data, setting long-term sustainability guidelines, and implementing voluntary reporting mechanisms for space objects. Additionally, it covered the relationship with the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, sharing lessons learned, and continuing to hold cooperation meetings on the margins of the Committee's sessions.
The Artemis Agreements, established in 2020, are based on the principles of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which aims to regulate the activities of states in the exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, and to promote international cooperation in peaceful space exploration.
The agreements seek to enhance the work of the treaty and other existing instruments, such as the Registration Convention and the Rescue and Return of Astronauts Agreement, to ensure safe, transparent, and sustainable civil space exploration.
The signatory countries have committed to following the principles designed to promote safe, sustainable, and transparent space activities, including those related to peaceful purposes in accordance with international law. These include transparency in publishing information, national space policies and plans, enhancing coordination, providing emergency assistance, registering space objects, exchanging scientific data, protecting space heritage, and using space resources in line with the treaty.
It is noteworthy that, as of December 2024, 52 countries had signed the Artemis Agreements, including Arab states such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain.
Source: Emirates News Agency