Senegal signed the Artemis agreements Thursday during a ceremony organized by NASA at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, becoming the last nation to engage in the exploration responsible for space for all humanity.
“Following a meeting between President of Senegal Faye and President Trump today, NASA relied on solid relations between our two nations while the Senegalese agency for space studies signed the Artemis agreements,” said the acting administrator of NASA, Sean Duffy. “With Senegal as a 56th signator, I am proud to continue the strong inheritance of President Trump for global cooperation in space.”
The director general of the Senegalese Space Agency (ASES) Maram Kairé signed the Artemis agreements in the name of Senegal. Jonathan Pratt, head of the main office of African affairs in the American State Department, and Abdoul Wahab Haidara, Ambassador of Senegal to the United States, also participated in the event.
“Senegal’s membership in Artemis agreements reflects our commitment to a multilateral, responsible and transparent space approach,” said Kairé. “This signature marks a significant step in our space diplomacy and in our ambition to contribute to the peaceful exploration of space.”
The signing ceremony of the Artemis agreements took place two weeks after President Trump’s meeting in Washington with the president of Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, and other African countries, focused on American-Africa engagement.
Senegal astronomers supported NASA missions by participating in several observations when asteroids or planets pass in front of the stars, throwing shadows on earth. In 2021, NASA also collaborated with Kairé and a group of astronomers for a ground observation campaign in Senegal. While the asteroid Orus passed in front of a star, they positioned telescopes along the path of the shadow of the asteroid to estimate its shape and its size. Lucy Spatial de la Nasa will approach Orus in 2028, as part of its mission to explore the asteroids of Jupiter Troy.
In 2020, during the first Trump administration, the United States, led by NASA and the United States Department of State, joined seven other founding countries to establish Artemis agreements, responding to growing interest in lunar activities by governments and private companies.
The agreements have introduced the first set of practical principles aimed at improving security, transparency and coordination of the exploration of civil space on the Moon, Mars and beyond.
The signing of the Artemis agreements means exploring peacefully and transparently, to make the help of those who need it, to guarantee unrestricted access to scientific data that all humanity can learn, to ensure that activities do not interfere with those of others, in order to preserve historically important sites and artifacts, and to develop best practices in the way of carrying out historically important exploration activities.
More and more countries should sign the Artemis agreements in the months and years to come, because NASA continues its work to establish a safe, peaceful and prosperous future in space.
Learn more about Artemis agreements to:
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-cords
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Bethany Stevens / Elizabeth Shaw
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
Bethany.c.stevens@nasa.gov / Elizabeth.a.shaw@nasa.gov
