WASHINGTON — Liechtenstein became the latest country to sign the Artemis Accords Dec. 20, bringing the total number of signatories to more than half of a key United Nations body.
Rainer Schnepfleitner, director of Liechtenstein’s Office for Communications, the government agency responsible for space issues, signed the Artemis Accords in an event at NASA Headquarters also attended by Georg Sparber, the country’s ambassador to the United States, and U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein Scott Miller.
“With its participation in the Artemis Accords, Liechtenstein looks forward to advancing space exploration among a strong group of like-minded countries committed to the peaceful use of space for the benefit of all humanity,” Sparber said in a statement.
“Liechtenstein’s commitment strengthens our vision, where space is explored with peace, transparency and sustainability as guiding principles,” NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, who represented the agency at the signing ceremony, said in a statement. “With each new signatory, the Artemis Accords community adds fresh energy and capabilities to ensure the benefits of space reach the entire world.”
Liechtenstein is the 52nd country to sign the Artemis Accords and the 19th to do so this year. The country, which is neither a member of the European Union nor European Space Agency, has a modest presence in space, and is perhaps best known as the country that Rivada Space Networks has used for spectrum filings for its proposed broadband constellation. It follows Thailand, which signed Dec. 16, and Panama and Austria, which signed in separate ceremonies Dec. 11.
With Liechtenstein, the Artemis Accords now has more than half the nations as signatories as the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), which 102 nations have joined. However, Liechtenstein itself is not a member of COPUOS.
“Achieving 52 signatories is a critical milestone since Artemis Accords signatories now represent a majority of the U.N. COPUOS,” Mike Gold, chief growth officer of Redwire and a former NASA official who spearheaded the development of the Accords, told SpaceNews. “This transforms the American-led values of the Accords into a true global consensus on vital issues such as interoperability, due regard, transparency and, in particular, the utilization of space resources.”
Advocates of the Accords have argued that it offers a mechanism for discussion of emerging issues about topics like space sustainability that can make progress faster than in COPUOS, which operates on a consensus basis and can be slowed down by a single member. The work among Artemis Accords nations can, in turn, be folded into COPUOS discussions.
“These discussions are valuable in and of themselves,” said Valda Vikmanis, director of the State Department’s Office of Space Affairs, of Artemis Accords discussions during a panel discussion at the SpaceNews Icon Awards Dec. 6.
“It’s an opportunity to share ideas, bounce ideas off one another, discuss challenges and opportunities,” she said. “A large multilateral forum like COPUOS doesn’t afford that same sort of frankness and opportunity.”
Gold noted that the Accords were crafted in the first Trump administration, with the first eight countries signing in October 2020. “I hope the Accords can now benefit government and private sector lunar and Martian activities during the president’s second term,” he said.
