Artemis Accords: As PM Modi Heads To US, Everything About NASA-Led Space Initiative

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will begin his visit to the United States from June 21. During his first state visit, PM Modi will hold discussions with President Joe Biden on improving trade and investment relations, besides forging closer ties in the technology domain comprising telecom, space and manufacturing. US space agency NASA is trying to include India in the Artemis team, which seeks to bring like-minded countries together on civil space exploration. According to NASA, many countries and private companies are conducting missions so a common set of principles to govern civil exploration.

What are the Artemis Accords?

Initiated by NASA, these are the non-binding multilateral arrangement between the United States government and other world governments participating in the Artemis program, an American-led effort to return humans to the Moon by 2025.

The ultimate aim of Artemis programme is to expand space exploration to Mars and beyond.

NASA, in coordination with the US Department of State, established the Artemis Accords in 2020 together with seven other founding member nations.

Key principles of the Artemis Accords

The accords are signed at national level rather than an organisational level, and countries do that on a voluntary basis.

One of the key principles of Artemis Accords is to affirm the importance of compliance with 1967's Outer Space Treaty (or the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the moon and Other Celestial Bodies to give it its full title).

These accords also affirm the importance of Rescue and Return Agreement opened in 1968, which was opened for signature on April 22, 1968.

The representatives of the countries that signed the accords held the first in-person meeting at the International Astronautical Congress in Paris on September 19, 2022.

What do the Artemis Accords say?

In the documents detailing the accords, NASA says they are meant for peaceful exploration of space, urging nations to be transparent in their activities, calling upon the signatories to commit to providing emergency assistance, get their space objects registered and inform the UN and general public about space resource extraction activities.

Countries involved in the Artemis Accords

According to US State Department website, which co-leads the accords with NASA, 25 countries have signed the Artemis Accords till May 30, 2023. These are: Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, Czech Republic, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxemburg, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Poland, Republic of Korea (South Korea), Romania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America.

India and the Artemis Accord

If it becomes a part of the Artemis team, India will become 26th signatory of the accords. The US is keen to have India on board since it is a global power and one of the few countries with independent access to space.

Bhavya Lal, the associate administrator for technology, policy, and strategy within the office of the NASA Administrator, said last week that she hopes India would become part of the community that hunts down asteroids and comets that might impact Earth and cause much distraction.

India and the US recently set up a human space flight working group under their Initiative of Critical and Emerging Technologies (ICET) Dialogue.