Senegal has become the 56th country to sign the Artemis Accords, a set of principles governing civil space activity aimed at promoting peaceful and transparent exploration of outer space. The signing ceremony took place on July 24 at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
African nations have shown growing interest in space exploration, with Senegal joining Angola and Nigeria as signatories since 2022. This move reflects the country’s commitment to a multilateral approach to space exploration and its ambition to contribute to peaceful outer space exploration.
Senegal has been expanding its involvement in space science, supporting NASA missions through ground-based observations of asteroid and planetary occultations. The Artemis Accords align with the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, aiming to support NASA’s Artemis program, which plans to return humans to the moon by 2026 and prepare for future crewed missions to Mars.
The signing of the Artemis Accords marks a significant step in Senegal’s space diplomacy, reflecting its commitment to responsible and transparent approaches to space exploration.
Source: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/senegal-becomes-56th-country-to-sign-artemis-accords-for-peaceful-space-exploration