Austria Signs Artemis Accords
From left: Left: NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Ambassador Petra Schneebauer , and State Department Acting Assistant Secretary Jennifer R. Littlejohn.
Photo: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Austria became the 50th signatory of the Artemis Accords at a ceremony at NASA headquarters on December 12, 2024.Ambassador Petra Schneebauer signed the Artemis Accords on behalf of the Government of Austria and in the presence of State Department Acting Assistant Secretary Jennifer R. Littlejohn and NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
Austria is a vital strategic partner of the United States and, via this signing, has further demonstrated its continuing commitment, alongside the other Artemis Accords signatories, to safe and sustainable international cooperation in outer space. As the host to the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, Austria supports important work to ensure responsible space exploration and best practices in space to keep space sustainable for current and future generations. By signing the Artemis Accords, Austria builds on the already strong bilateral partnership with the United States, based on shared democratic values, a dynamic bilateral trade and investment relationship, and the deep and diverse people-to-people ties that unite us. This also opens up new opportunities for Austrian businesses and researchers to contribute to space initiatives, benefiting both space exploration and life on Earth.
The Artemis Accords were established in 2020 by the United States and seven other countries. They set out a practical set of principles to guide responsible space exploration. Austria joins the United States and 48 other nations – Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, Poland, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay – in affirming the Accords’ principles for sustainable civil space activity. The Department of State and NASA lead the United States’ outreach and implementation of the Accords.
For more information, please visit https://www.state.gov/artemis-accords/.
All photos: NASA/Joel Kowsky