Ukraine Becomes 9th Nation to Sign Artemis Accords
KIEV (State Space Agency of Ukraine PR) — The State Space Agency of Ukraine has signed the NASA Artemis Agreement on the Principles of Cooperation in Civil Exploration and the Peaceful Use of the Moon, Mars, Comets and Asteroids and has joined the space agencies of other participating countries.
Thus, Ukraine became the ninth signatory of the Artemis Agreements.
The agreements contain a set of principles that will guide the signatory states in their participation in NASA’s Artemis program, namely:
- Peaceful research: all activities carried out under the Artemis program must be carried out for peaceful purposes;
- Transparency: signatories will operate transparently to avoid misunderstandings and conflicts;
- Compatibility: The nations participating in the program will seek to maintain the interoperability of the systems to increase their security and stability;
- Emergency assistance: the signatories undertake to provide assistance to the victims of the Artemis program in the context of the Rescue Agreement;
- Registration of space objects: Any state participating in the program must be a party to the Registration Convention;
- Dissemination of scientific data: signatories undertake to publicly disclose scientific information obtained in the framework of the program;
- Preservation of heritage: the signatories undertake to preserve the space heritage;
- Space resources: the extraction and use of space resources is a key factor in safe and sustainable research, and the signatories reaffirm that such activities must be carried out in accordance with the Outer Space Treaty;
- Deconflict activities: the signatories undertake to prevent harmful interference and uphold the principle of due diligence, as required by the Outer Space Treaty;
- Orbital debris: Signatories undertake to plan the safe disposal of debris.
“This is important for Ukraine, because we will be able to implement our own projects in partnership with the world’s leading space agencies. This is a logical step in continuing the fact that we have joined the Moon Village Association. Ukrainian projects have for the first time become part of the global scenario of the Moon’s development from ISECG, and it is logical that we want to further realize our potential within the framework of the Artemis program. These principles and agreements do not violate Ukraine’s international obligations in the field of space activities. Also, I am convinced that the Agreements will give a new impetus to the unification of states in launching multilateral consultations in the context of the development of international space law, which would meet modern challenges and plans of mankind in space exploration, “said Volodymyr Usov.
The signing of the Agreements will also help discuss the conclusion of a Framework Agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of the United States of America on cooperation in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes (Framework Agreement of March 31, 2008 expired January 22, 2019). in other areas of space activities and the resumption of dialogue between the states within the Ukrainian-American working group on research and use of outer space for peaceful purposes, which was established in 2016.
Ukraine has all the scientific and technical capabilities and experience that allow it to become one of NASA’s important partners in the implementation of the Artemis program.
It will be recalled that on October 13, 2020, as part of the 71st International Astronautical Congress, eight states signed Artemis Agreements on the Principles of Cooperation in Civil Exploration and the Peaceful Use of the Moon, Mars, Comets and Asteroids.
18 responses to “Ukraine Becomes 9th Nation to Sign Artemis Accords”
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Excellent!
Putin ain’t gonna like this
Good.
This is probably the Trump administrations most accepted diplomatic initiative.
Even if “most accepted” translates to “least opposed” you might not be right. The Artemis Accords have attracted a fair amount of opposition. At the level of nation-states, Russia has been a notable detractor. China has said little publicly, but seems less than enthused also. Then there are the legions of academics, socialists – but I repeat myself – and U.N. worshiping/Moon Treaty types who want space formally declared a no-capitalism zone.
I’d say the three peace treaties between Israel and majority-Muslim nations plus the Serbia-Kosovo peace treaty almost certainly rank higher because there are more nations with more skin in those games who approve the outcomes. Russia, I should think, would be no fan of the Serbia-Kosovo deal. Russia, Iran, Syria, the Palestinian Authority and probably China would seem the main likely detractors of the Israeli-Muslim deals. Most other nations seem to like them.
So I think the Artemis Accords are a good fifth-place entry anent world acceptance, but may wind up being more important, long-term, than any other Trump diplomatic achievement.
Ah, the new GOP looking to Russia to judge the success of an American diplomatic initiative. I’ll bet you’re even waiting for Russia to call the American election in Trump’s favor. Nice move Eagleson. You’re an endless source of amusement.
In case you haven’t noticed big business, particularly those firms that support China, have quietly taken charge of the Biden Transition Team and China has already announced it will renegotiate its trade deal to make it more favorable. Also the Paris Accords, that allow China to pump CO2 into the air without any restrictions for a decade while being given money from Western nations, will be reinstated. Note that while market forces have continue to reduce the CO2 output of the USA under President Trump, it’s now at 1992 levels compared to 2005 levels under President Obama, without the Paris Accord China has been greatly increasing its output under it, adding 3 tons for every ton reduced by the USA.
“In Obama’s eight years as president, CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels and cement production fell by 11%. The amount of coal used for primary energy production decreased by 38% while renewable generation went up by 44%
In Trump’s three years in power to 2019, this trend continued but slowed down. CO2 emissions fell by just 0.5%. Coal use for primary energy production went down 3%, despite the president’s talk of reviving the industry, while renewables rose 11%.
CO2 emissions went down in 2017 then shot back up in 2018 before falling again in 2019. They are expected to fall again in 2020, reflecting reduced economic activity due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The IEA said 2019’s reduction was mainly a result of coal being replaced by cleaner-burning fossil gas and because a mild summer and winter led to lower use of air conditioning and heating.
Other nations reduced emissions faster in 2019.
While US emissions declined by 3% so did those of ‘advanced economies’ in general. Japan’s fell by 4%, the EU’s by 5% and Germany’s by 8%.
Kevin Kennedy, of the World Resources Institute, said any emissions reductions were not a result of US government policy but because coal is becoming “increasingly uneconomic” compared to gas and renewables. He also credited the ‘We’re Still In’ coalition of US states and cities with taking climate action in spite of Trump.
“What we’ve been seeing from the Trump administration is very serious attempts to roll back the sorts of policies the Obama administration put in place, which are going to be incredibly important if we want to see serious emissions reductions continuing,” Kennedy said.
A key part of the Paris Agreement was that states would set progressively more ambitious climate targets on a five-yearly cycle. A handful of countries have submitted updated pledges this year. The UN and UK are urging more to come forward by the end-of-2020 deadline and well before Cop26 climate talks in Glasgow, November 2021.
Trump has withdrawn the US from the Paris pact and has no plans to meet its original pledge, let alone increase its ambition. On the contrary, he has sought to roll back emissions standards and environmental protections.”
https://www.climatechangene…
I don’t know if it’s a reading comprehension problem on your part or some more basic sort of mental dysfunction but I am completely unable to fathom how a rational human being can read what I wrote and conclude I’m “looking to Russia to judge the success of an American diplomatic initiative,” never mind presuming to speak for entire GOP.
The initial success of the Artemis Accords is already evident. Ukraine signing on simply indicates the likely continued accretion of signatories.
Russia has already rendered its “judgement,” by declining to sign. As I don’t want Russia anywhere near the Artemis Accords or the Moon, I’m entirely in favor of its refusal. Fortunately, diplomacy – unlike, say, gymnastics or figure skating – is not a judged sport.
I’m sure the Russians would much prefer the dim and pliable Biden to Trump – even if they would play a decided second fiddle to the Chinese, who have already paid cash for Mr. Biden’s favors.
But the Russian ability to “call” the election for Trump is roughly equal to the ability of the mainstream press to call it for Biden. Fortunately, the legal determination of who will serve as U.S. President for the next four years is a process in which neither partisan editorialists nor foreign despots have any role.
I suppose humor is where one finds it. But I am reminded that inappropriate laughter has long been regarded as one of the indicia of lunacy – hence the colloquial reference to insane asylums as “laughing academies.”
I see you woke up on the wrong side of the news today. Sorry man.
Actually, I have found the news – as opposed to the fictions published in the mainstream press – fairly encouraging recently, today included.
The advantage of a network of agreements like this is that China, and Russia, are able to sign bilateral agreements with other Artemis Accord nations that have similar principles but are not technically the Artemis Accord. China for example already has a MOU with Luxembourg, which signed the Artemis Accords, on space that could be expanded to include the same rules. This provides a route for them to agree to the principles without actually supporting the Artemis Accords.
But these agreements, like the Paris Accord, depend on the Biden Administration supporting them. It will be interesting to see if he does so.
Indeed. As Congress increasingly passes on it’s constitutionally mandated work and power to the office of the president, you can see the executive branch slowly replace these kinds of diplomatic efforts in place of real treaties. As that process continues, changes in administration will effect larger swings in policy. It’s just another measure of the decline in quality of American government in the post Cold War era.
Perhaps Ukraine – correctly – sees a Biden Presidency as an ill wind that will blow them no good anyway so why not sign on while Trump is still in office and can perhaps still do Ukraine some favors before he goes. Not an unreasonable point of view, I think, though one I also think is overly pessimistic anent Trump’s chances of prevailing over Biden when all is said and done.
If you followed Ukrainian news you’d know that they understand the problems they suffer from have no solution from outside players. They also know that the insurgency has no military solution, only as a means of containment at best. The moves the Ukraine needs to make are very simple, yet very hard. Things like land reform. Let the farmers own their land and not rent it from the state. They can’t even at least turn them into property tax payers. That move alone would go a long way to turning off the insurgency in the East and convert a lot of the Novo-Russians in Crimea to pine for their lost Ukrainian citizenship. Other things like privatizing the electric grid, buying into and adding onto the Polish-Baltic gas works going up (Obama project there) would be a huge boon to the region, not to mention all the imported American LNG that would go into the system. But the US has not been pushing that initiative the past few years so ….. The Javelins did help, but all the Russians did was replace the lost vehicles with replacements, and they learned a lot about how to tune reactive armor to defeat javelin’s warhead. They did not change much.
I don’t follow Ukrainian news, but your comment triggered a bit of deja vu. Quite a number of the regimes that fell to bad actors over the last century or so were NOT GOOD in their own right. Castro in Cuba wouldn’t have been possible if Batista had been a better leader/public servant as the best known example I can think of.
It is too often missed that a horrible situation can always get worse. “It can’t get any worse” is a false statement throughout history.
The Cuban revolution is such an amazing example of how much worse things can get in a power vacuum. Castro’s baseball team were a rabble. If Batista’s Cuba had any functioning civic component, Castro and company would have been left in the wilderness to rot. The Soviets knew how to build those insurgents into the long lived regime they are today. North Korea is another example of a Soviet constructed government. North Vietnam vs South Vietnam is another example of the Soviets filling in a leadership vacuum. Leadership vacuums are toxic. They leave the door open for the worst kinds of players, some of whom have no idea they’re sitting on the sideline waiting to step in until they see the chance. So they can come out of nowhere.
Ukraine knows what they’re up against. Their ruling class knows what needs to be done, but they fear losing their ownership of the national jewels. Namely the farmland, industry, and utilities. They can also see the Russians to the East and the South. The bear is at the door, so Ukrainian rulers know what has to be done, it’s just that doing it is easier said than done. The average Ukrainian does see some progress that and their intense nationalism are the glue that’s keeping the nation going. Ukraine has a functional civic sector that is kept in some sort of order by pressure from the people.