Ibadan, 17 April 2024. – Switzerland has become the 37th signatory to the Artemis Accords, as Guy Parmelin, Swiss Federal Councillor and Minister for Economic Affairs, Education & Research, signed the Accords on behalf of Switzerland at NASA Headquarters in Washington on Monday, April 15. The signature consequently affirms Switzerland’s commitment to the sustainable and beneficial use of space for all humankind.
Aside from Guy Parmelin, other participants at the signature included Valda Vikmanis-Keller, acting deputy assistant secretary, Department of State, Martina Hirayama, state secretary, Head of the State Secretariat for Education, Research, and Innovation, Jacques Pitteloud, Swiss Ambassador to the U.S., ESA astronaut Marco Sieber, Renato Krpoun, Head of Swiss Space Office, and Professor Peter Wurz, Director Space and Planetary Sciences, University of Bern.
Speaking on occasion, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said, “Today, we marked a giant leap forward in the partnership between the United States and Switzerland. As we welcome you into the Artemis Accords family, we expand our commitment to explore the unknown openly and peacefully. Discovery strengthens goodwill on Earth, and we are excited to expand our countries’ shared values and principles to the cosmos.”
Likewise, Guy Parmelin noted, “Switzerland has a long-standing partnership with NASA on human space exploration as well as space and Earth sciences. With the signature of the Artemis Accords, we renew our commitment to jointly explore the heavens above us.”
The Artemis Accords reinforce the 1968 Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, otherwise known as the Outer Space Treaty. They also emphasize a commitment on behalf of the U.S. to the Registration Convention, the Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, and other standards that NASA and its partners support.
