Luxembourg, NASA among First Signatories of Artemis Accords

Luxembourg has become a founding member of the Artemis Accords after the Minister of the Economy, Franz Fayot, signed the agreements on the Grand Duchy's behalf yesterday in Washington DC in the USA at the first International Aeronautical Congress.

While NASA is leading the Artemis programme, which includes sending the first woman and next man to the surface of the Moon in 2024, international partnerships will play a key role in achieving a sustainable and robust presence on the Moon later this decade while preparing to conduct a historic human mission to Mars.

The founding member nations that have signed the Artemis Accords together with the USA, in alphabetical order, are: Australia; Canada; Italy; Japan; Luxembourg; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom.

NASA announced that it was establishing the Artemis Accords earlier this year to guide future cooperative activities, to be implemented through bilateral agreements that will describe responsibilities and other legal provisions. The partners will ensure their activities are guided by the agreements in carrying out future cooperation. International cooperation on Artemis is intended not only to bolster space exploration but to enhance peaceful relationships among nations.

Minister Franz Fayot commented: “It is a great pleasure for me to sign the Artemis Accords on behalf of Luxembourg. The [agreements] integrate very well with the efforts Luxembourg has been making both nationally and internationally to support the peaceful exploration and sustainable utilisation of space, and more specifically, space resources for the benefit of humankind”.

Luxembourg has a thriving space industry and research community, fostered by government policy designed to encourage high tech industry, particularly space. 

“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,” explained NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “

The Artemis Accords reinforce and implement the 1967 Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, otherwise known as the Outer Space Treaty. The agreements also reinforce the US and partner nations’ commitment to the Registration Convention, the Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts and other norms of behavior that NASA and its partners have supported.

Minister Franz Fayot concluded: “In the next months, the Luxembourg Space Agency and NASA will further explore concrete opportunities for cooperation within the Artemis programme, defining Luxembourg’s contribution to the programme based on our existing and future capacities. This in areas such as prospecting of resources, surface mobility and operations and energy". 

Marc Serres, CEO of the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA), added: “The Artemis Accords endorse the approach taken since 2016 by the Luxembourg Space Agency with its SpaceResources.lu initiative aimed at the peaceful exploration and sustainable utilisation of space resources". 

US Ambassador to Luxembourg J. Randolph Evans offered his remarks by video: “Today, we strengthen the US and Luxembourg collaboration in space and when we watch in a few years when the next astronaut sets her foot down on the moon, we can all collectively say we did our part to help her get there. That is the magnitude of what Minister Fayot and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine have done this week”.

Further countries can sign the Artemis Accords in the future. NASA confirmed that a number of prospective Artemis partners have already reached out to express interesting in signing the agreements.