NASA Artemis Programme Preparation

NASA's Artemis program is in the news on October 21, 2024, as it gets ready to send people back to the moon by 2026. Almost two years have passed since the uncrewed Artemis 1 mission was successfully completed. NASA's motto, "We go together," highlights the spirit of cooperation that characterizes this new age of space travel. 45 countries are now parties to the diplomatic effort known as the Artemis Accords, which encourages the peaceful exploration of deep space.

The Artemis Accords: Guiding International Space Collaboration

• The Artemis Accords are a framework of principles for peaceful, purposeful, and sustainable exploration on the Moon and beyond.
• About 25 per cent of the countries of the world have affixed their signatures to these accords, Estonia included.
• Values of international collaboration and peace, rule of law, and open science as expressed in the Accords.
• Major powers, such as China and Russia, are conspicuously absent from the list of signatories, underscoring that space requires a domain-based ceasefire.
• The norms and expectations that are being set for space conduct in the accords are expected to impact future space play even by nations which have not agreed.
• NASA lured in smaller countries to the Accords — stressing that ample satellite data benefits several sectors.
• The growth of the private space sector is altering the dynamics of space exploration, thus heightening a need for widely accepted norms.
• The urgency behind getting back to the Moon calls for more flexible diplomacy in order to deal with current and future international space challenges.