Romania Signs the Artemis Accords

At a virtual ceremony, Romania became the 16th nation to sign the Artemis Accords. President and CEO of the Romanian Space Agency Marius-Ioan Piso signed the Accords on behalf of Romania. His actions were witnessed and welcomed by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, U.S. Embassy in Romania Chargé d’affaires, a.i. David Muniz, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Jennifer R. Littlejohn.

The Artemis Accords are a set of nonbinding commitments, grounded in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, to facilitate the peaceful and safe exploration of outer space.  The Artemis Accords lay out certain principles to guide civil space actors, among them: peaceful purposes, transparency, interoperability, commitment to emergency assistance, registration of space objects, release of scientific data, deconfliction of activities, protection of space heritage, and mitigation of orbital debris, including spacecraft disposal.

The other signatories of the Artemis Accords are Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States.