In Washington, D.C., the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit is presently underway.
"As we enter this new era in space development, it's important to remember the tangible benefits that space partnership can deliver for our citizens and that African nations are not just recipients of those benefits but active participants and partners in the exploration and use of space," Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Monica Medina said in a statement on behalf of the U.S. government.
The Artemis Accords, signed by eight countries on October 13, 2020, and based on the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, create a common vision for open, secure, and sustainable civil space research and utilisation.
The Accords assist in creating a secure and open environment for commercial, scientific, and exploratory activity supported by nations and private sector participants.
The Artemis Accords' main tenets are system interoperability, emergency assistance for astronauts in need, registration of space objects to foster safety, planning for mitigating orbital debris and retired spacecraft, deconfliction of activities, and open access to scientific data to ensure that the entire world can profit from the exploration and discovery of Artemis.
22 nations, including Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States, have now signed the Accords in addition to Nigeria.