On Tuesday, Nigeria and Rwanda became the first African countries to sign the Artemis Accords, which are an initiative launched in 2020 by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) to assure safe, transparent and sustainable space exploration. The adherence of the two African States took the number of Artemis Accord members to 25, and all the inhabited continents were now represented.

“I’m thrilled Nigeria and Rwanda are committing to the safe, sustainable use of outer space. In an era where more nations than ever have space programs, [Tuesday]’s signings highlight a growing commitment to ensure space exploration is conducted responsibly,” said Nasa Administrator Bill Nelson. “As the first African nations to sign the Artemis Accords, Nigeria and Rwanda exemplify the global reach of the accords and are demonstrating their leadership in space exploration.”

The accords were signed, on behalf of Nigeria, by Federal Communications and Digital Economy Minister Isa Ali Ibrahim, and on behalf of Rwanda, by Rwanda Space Agency CEO Francis Ngabo. The signing ceremony was attended by Nelson and other senior US officials and marked the start of the US-Africa Space Forum, a subsidiary event of the US-Africa Leaders Summit, hosted in Washington DC by US President Joe Biden.

“The Artemis Accords are a set of principles to guide the next phase in space exploration, reinforcing and providing for important operational implementation of key obligations in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty,” explained Nasa. “The Accords also reinforce the commitment by the United States and signatory nations to the Registration Convention, the Rescue and Return Agreement, as well as guidelines and best practices Nasa and its partners have supported, including the public release of scientific data.”

Apart from Nigeria, Rwanda and the US, the current signatories of the Artemis Accords were Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, the Republic of (South) Korea, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates and the UK. More countries were expected to join in the coming months and years.

The Artemis Accords were named after Nasa’s latest crewed space programme, Artemis, which would resume human exploration of the Moon (including landing the first woman and the first person of colour on the lunar surface) and start human exploration of deeper space, with Mars as a longer-term target. Although led by Nasa, Artemis was actually an international initiative, with, for example, major inputs from the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, and Artemis crews would often (if not always) be international in composition. In Greek mythology, Artemis was the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals and vegetation (and so, nature), as well as of archery, childbirth, childcare, young women and chastity. She was the sister of Apollo. Nasa’s previous crewed lunar exploration programme, which ended just under 50 years ago, was called Apollo.