Nigeria and Rwanda are the first African nations to sign the Artemis accord at the U.S African summit.
The Artemis Accords is a set of principles for international cooperation in space exploration and utilization that was announced by the United States in May 2020. The Accords are named after NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to land astronauts on the Moon by 2024 and establish a sustainable presence there by 2028.
International cooperation in space exploration has become increasingly important as more countries have developed their own space programs and as the potential benefits of space exploration have become more widely recognized.
NASA’s Artemis program is a human spaceflight program that aims to land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024, with the ultimate goal of establishing a sustainable presence on the lunar surface by 2028. The program is named after the Greek goddess of the Moon, Artemis.
The Artemis Accords outline a set of principles for peaceful and responsible exploration of space, including commitments to transparency, interoperability, and sustainable use of resources. The principles also emphasize the protection of heritage sites and the prevention of harmful interference with other countries’ activities in space.
As of September 2021, 12 countries have signed the Artemis Accords: Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, the United States, and Brazil. Other countries, including Russia and China, have expressed concerns about the Accords and have not yet signed on.
Nigerian and Rwanda are the first African countries to sign the Artemis Accord at the first ever U.S.-Africa Space Forum. The Accords were signed by Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Isa Ali Ibrahim on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and by Rwanda Space Agency CEO Francis Ngabo on behalf of the Republic of Rwanda.
It is worth noting that Nigeria has a growing space program and has launched a number of satellites into orbit in recent years. In 2018, the country launched its first indigenous satellite, NigeriaSat-1E, which was designed and built by Nigerian engineers. Nigeria also has plans to launch a second satellite, NigeriaSat-2, in the near future. In furtherance of Nigeria’s goal of providing all of its citizens broadband access by 2025, Nigeria announced that SpaceX’s high-speed, low latency broadband service Starlink is now available in the country, making Nigeria the first country in Africa where Starlink is available.
The Artemis accord purposes to promote the existing bilateral space cooperation agreements for mutual interest in the exploration and use of outer space. It is the outlining of principles set out with the intention to guide civil space activities conducted by the civil space agencies of each signatory.
It has been more than 50 years after the historic Apollo 11 man landing where Neil Armstrong was the first man to land on the moon.The Artemis program builds on the legacy of the Apollo program, which sent astronauts to the Moon in the 1960s and 1970s. However, the Artemis program is designed to be more sustainable and to establish a long-term human presence on the Moon, with the goal of eventually using the Moon as a stepping stone to explore Mars and other destinations in the solar system.
The essence of the voluntary agreement by different countries is to build a common spirit and ambition towards the next steps of propelling humanity’s journey into space which would inspire current and future generations to explore the moon, Mars and beyond. The Artemis Accords represent a significant step towards promoting cooperation and responsible behavior in space exploration and utilization.
