Bahrain joins US-led Artemis Accords on peaceful and responsible space exploration

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has lauded Bahrain for becoming the latest nation to sign the US-led Artemis Accords, an international treaty that outlines peaceful and responsible exploration of the Moon and space in general. “I am so pleased to see Bahrain has shown its commitment to the peaceful exploration of space by signing the Artemis Accords,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a statement posted on its website.

“This important decision by Bahrain follows the recent successful launch of the Light-1 spacecraft, developed by Bahrain’s National Space Science Agency (NSSA) in cooperation with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), another Artemis Accords signatory.” Adding to a growing list of signatories, the Kingdom also became the second Arab country to sign the accords, which embrace a common set of principles to guide cooperation among nations participating in NASA’s Artemis programme.

In particular, the accords set international standards of how the Moon should be explored and lists guidelines on activities such as mining on the Moon, releasing scientific data publicly, transparency with the public on policies, and providing emergency assistance.

17th nation

Interestingly, Bahrain became the 17th nation, and the third in the Middle East to sign the Artemis Accords, following the UAE and Israel. It is also the eighth country to sign it under the Biden-Harris US administration.

Bahrain joins 16 other countries that have already signed the Artemis Accords, namely the US, UK, UAE, Japan, Italy, Canada, Australia, Luxembourg, South Korea, New Zealand, Brazil, Ukraine, Israel, Poland, Mexico and Romania. NSSA Chief Executive Officer Dr Mohamed Al Aseeri signed the Artemis Accords on March 2 for Bahrain.

The signing was discussed as part of a joint statement following last week’s US-Bahrain Strategic Dialogue between Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and His Royal Highness Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister. Vice President Kamala Harris also announced Bahrain’s signing of the Artemis Accords during a joint news conference on March 4 with HRH Prince Salman. The UAE signed the agreement in 2020 as a founding country, shortly after announcing that it was sending a rover to the lunar surface.

Bahrain is also an emerging space nation, with plans to develop and launch nanosatellites and increase research capabilities. It announced that it had joined the accords during the visit to the US last week by HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister.