On November 1, the Kingdom of the Netherlands became the 31st nation to sign the Artemis Accords. In a ceremony hosted by the Dutch Ambassador to the United States Birgitta Tazelaar, Netherlands Space Office (NSO) director Harm van de Wetering signed on behalf of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, Executive Secretary of the U.S. National Space Council Chirag Parikh attended the ceremony.
Jointly led by Department of State and NASA, the Artemis Accords were established in 2020 with eight nations participating. The Artemis Accords establish a practical set of principles to guide space exploration cooperation among nations. Signatories support the release of public scientific data and are discussing how best to mitigate or avoid harmful interference on the lunar surface.