NASA has announced that Germany is the latest signatory to the Artemis Accords. This makes them the 29th country to sign on to the Accords, which includes signatory countries from around the world: including India, Nigeria, Brazil, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Japan and Canada, as well as other European signatories like France, Spain, the United Kingdom and Italy. Are the Accords becoming something greater than we first thought? What does it mean for space exploration?
The signing ceremony took place on Sep 14th, 2023, at the German Ambassador’s residence in Washington DC. NASA administrator Bill Nelson was in attendance at the ceremony, as was Director Director General of the German Space Agency at DLR Dr. Walther Pelzer, who signed on behalf of Germany.
NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy and German ambassador to the United States Andreas Michaelis were also in attendance, as were representatives from the Department of State and the U.S. National Space Council.
The Artemis Accords is named after the international Artemis program, which aims to return mankind to the Moon and establish a permanent presence there. This includes both the upcoming Lunar Gateway, and (eventually) a permanent Moon base. The actual Accords are more wide-ranging than just involvement in a return to the Moon, however. They cover a wide variety of space-related principles. This includes reaffirming a commitment to the “peaceful exploration of space,” to transparency, and to “deconfliction of activities” that ensures there will be no “harmful interference with each other’s use of outer space.” This includes coordination and communication to protect partners’ activities within defined “safety zones.”
It also includes commitments to interoperability of equipment wherever possible, to managing and preventing the accumulation of orbital debris, and to extraction and utilization of space-based resources “in a manner that complies with the Outer Space Treaty.” Signatories also agree that extraction “does not inherently constitute national appropriation under Article II of the Outer Space Treaty.” The growing number of signatories worldwide, including countries as diverse as Japan, Mexico, and the Saudi Arabia, suggests a broad appetite for this approach to space development, exploration, and resource exploitation.
Nelson said that he was “thrilled to welcome Germany to the Artemis Accords family,” adding that “Germany has long been one of NASA’s closest and most capable international partners, and their signing today demonstrates their leadership now and into the future – a future defined by limitless possibilities in space and the promise of goodwill here on Earth.”
Pelzer, meanwhile, said that “the German signing of the Artemis Accords gives a further boost to this joint endeavor to carry out programs for the exploration of space. Thus, the Artemis Accords offer a multitude of new opportunities for industry and scientific research in Germany – and ultimately also across Europe.”
German ambassador to the United States Andreas Michaelis was quoted in Breaking Defense as saying that this was a recommitment to their belief in multilateralism, and that “we are convinced that space exploration and the use of space resources should be based on common rules.” Breaking Defense said that they were told by officials from several governments that “they expect other European nations, particularly members of the European Space Agency…to now follow suit.”
Referring to the Chinese/Russian plans to create a separate Moon presence, Michaelis also said that those countries are “aiming for the Moon and beyond [and] are challenging the rules-based international order and the rules-based order in space.” He said that space “has a security impact…[and that] space has a strategic dimension of German security.” Presumably this refers to the recent conflict in the United Nations between Artemis Accord signatories and China/Russia over the development of norms regarding military activities in space.
Canada, of course, is both an original Artemis Accords signatory and a close partner on the Artemis program, including the Canadarm3 robotic manipulator system currently under development at MDA.
Space Canada CEO Brian Gallant reinforced the attractiveness of the Artemis approach in an email exchange with SpaceQ. He said that “space is playing an increasingly important economic, scientific, and environmental role that significantly impacts our collective quality of life,” and that “spacefaring nations must, therefore promote transparency, collaboration, and sustainability:” key aspects of the Accords’ approach to space.
He said that Space Canada “applaud[s] Germany for joining the other 28 countries – including Canada which is one of the original signatories – in committing to adhere to these key principles through the Artemis Accords.”