Lithuania signed the Artemis Accords, making history as the forty-first country to join NASA and the international alliance for safer space travel. The event, which was held at the Radisson Blu Lietuva hotel in Vilnius, Lithuania, represents an ongoing effort to promote openness and harmony as more countries travel farther into space.
“Lithuania, welcome to the Artemis Accords family,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson remarked. “Our countries are powerful allies, and we are now extending this alliance into space. An astounding 40 nations have joined the Artemis Accords in just four years. We shall openly, responsibly, and peacefully explore the stars as a worldwide alliance.
The Accords were signed by Lithuanian Minister of Economy and Innovation Aušrinė Armonaitė, and U.S. Ambassador Kara C. McDonald spoke at the ceremony on behalf of the United States.
“With our creative companies working in this field making major strides, the Lithuanian space sector has been growing steadily,” Armonaitė stated. “The Artemis Accords underscore our commitment to a responsible, sustainable, and cooperative presence in space as they usher in a new era and set a course for future space exploration.”
Before the signing, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy made some remarks.
Melroy declared, “Today is a crucial day for Lithuania.” “We are in the heyday of space exploration. Gone are the days when a single country explored the universe on its own. We move together and with today.
The Artemis Accords are in line with NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to send humans to explore the Moon for scientific purposes, to help the economy, and to lay the groundwork for crewed trips to Mars. Among the astronauts scheduled to participate in this mission are the first woman, the first person of colour, and its first foreign partner.
The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 and three subsequent space treaties served as the foundation for the ideas outlined in the 2020 Artemis Accords, which were signed by NASA, the Department of State, and seven other countries. The agreements community will support a long-term, peaceful presence of deep space exploration for the benefit of humanity with the commitment of currently forty nations.
