United States Welcomes Switzerland and Sweden’s Signing of the Artemis Accords

Yesterday, the United States welcomed Switzerland and Sweden into the Artemis Accords family as we strengthen collaboration in space, to include scientific research, education, commercial ventures, and efforts to ensure the sustainable use of space environments.

Switzerland became the 37^th signatory to the Artemis Accords on April 15 and Sweden became the 38^th signatory on April 16.

Swiss Federal Councillor and Head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education, and Research Guy Parmelin signed for Switzerland during a ceremony at NASA headquarters in the presence of NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and the State Department's Office of Space Affairs Director Valda Vikmanis Keller.

Sweden's Minister for Education Dr. Mats Persson signed for Sweden during a ceremony in Stockholm in the presence of U.S. Ambassador Erik Ramanathan. Participants viewed pre-recorded remarks by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

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 space exploration.  Switzerland and Sweden join 36 other nations - Angola, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Poland, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, 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/.  For media inquiries, please contact [email protected].