On Wednesday, March 2, the Kingdom of Bahrain became the 17th nation, and the third nation in the Middle East, to sign the Artemis Accords. After approval from the Cabinet, National Space Science Agency (NSSA) CEO Dr. Mohamed Al Aseeri signed the Accords on behalf of Bahrain, demonstrating his nation’s commitment to the peaceful, safe, and responsible exploration and utilization of outer space.

Vice President Kamala Harris welcomed Bahrain’s affirmation of the principles espoused in the Artemis Accords at a joint news conference with Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalif, following the U.S.-Bahrain Strategic Dialogue.

Grounded in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, the Artemis Accords are a set of nonbinding commitments to important principles for civil space actors, ensuring that activity in outer space remains safe for all space-faring nations and benefits all of humanity. Led by the Department of State and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Accords play an important role in NASA’s Artemis program which seeks to create a sustainable and robust presence on the Moon while preparing to conduct a historic human mission to Mars – all with significant contributions by international partners.

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

Source: US State Department