During a ceremony at NASA Headquarters in Washington Thursday, Uruguay became the 36th country to sign the Artemis Accords. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson participated in the signing ceremony for the agency, and Omar Paganini, foreign minister, signed the Artemis Accords on behalf of Uruguay.
The accords establish a practical set of principles to guide space exploration cooperation among nations.
Also participating in the event were:
- NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy
- Karen Feldstein, associate administrator for NASA's Office of International and Interagency Relations
- Kevin Sullivan, U.S. Department of State deputy assistant secretary
- Andrés Augusto Durán Hareau, Uruguayan ambassador to the U.S.
- Heide Fulton, U.S. ambassador to Uruguay
"NASA welcomes Uruguay as the newest member of the Artemis Accords family," said Nelson. "The United States and Uruguay share a commitment to democracy and peace, and now, we expand these principles in the cosmos to commit to the safe and transparent exploration of space."
The Artemis Accords were established in 2020 by the United States together with seven other original signatories. Since then, the Accords signatories have held focused discussions on how best to implement the Artemis Accords principles.
"We are honored to have the opportunity to introduce space cooperation as a new chapter in the robust bilateral agenda between Uruguay and the U.S.," said Paganini. "We are sure that this signing ceremony is not an end in itself, but the beginning of a new bilateral track based on knowledge-intensive activities and new opportunities for our people."
The Artemis Accords reinforce and implement key obligations in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. They also strengthen the commitment by the United States and signatory nations to the Registration Convention, the Rescue and Return Agreement, as well as best practices NASA and its partners support, including the public release of scientific data.
