More Nations Sign Artemis Accords

In the past two months, more and more nations have signed the Artemis Accords, America's plan for the peaceful colonization and exploration of space. Recent signatories include Turkey, Djibouti, and Albania. The Artemis Accords establish rules and principles for the 'exploration of the Moon, Mars, comets, and asteroids'. These include sharing of all raw scientific data gained in space, common safety standards for spacecraft, reductions in orbtial debris, preservation of historical artifacts, and peaceful intent. First signed in 2020, with 8 original signatories, it has since expanded to 73 nations, over a third of the world.

With the sucessful launch of Artemis II, the first crewed mission past low Earth orbit since late 1972, it has ushered in a new era of space exploration. Along with this, the increasing rate of manned exploration, robotic rovers, probes, and sample returns, and the start of a Moon base, international agreements will be crucial in the development of spaceflight and space-based politics.