Portugal has become the latest country to join NASA’s Artemis Accord, becoming the 60th to do so. Announcing the same, the premier space agency stated
What began during the President’s first administration with 8 nations has grown, in just 5 years, into a coalition spanning the globe. The Accords are growing as our missions to the Moon and Mars are maturing. We’ll take these principles with us into this next great chapter of exploration.
Because of President Trump’s leadership, America and its allies are shaping the future of exploration together and setting the conditions for sustained leadership beyond Earth.
Welcoming the European nation, NASA’s current administrator Jared Isaaman wrote on X/Twitter,
One of America’s oldest allies has joined this growing coalition of nations committed to safe, transparent, and peaceful exploration of space.
This 60th signing strengthens the Artemis alliance, ignites more opportunities for transatlantic collaboration, and helps build the orbital and lunar economy.
India joined the Artemis Accords in June 2023, becoming the 27th signatory.
With Portugal’s signing, the Artemis Accords have reached 60 international signatories.
What began during the President’s first administration with 8 nations has grown, in just 5 years, into a coalition spanning the globe. The Accords are growing as our missions to the Moon and… pic.twitter.com/ydjXEjBmtp
— NASA (@NASA) January 12, 2026
Welcome to the Artemis Accords, Portugal! 🇵🇹
One of America’s oldest allies has joined this growing coalition of nations committed to safe, transparent, and peaceful exploration of space.
This 60th signing strengthens the Artemis alliance, ignites more opportunities for… pic.twitter.com/6D9WxLRlMu
— NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman (@NASAAdmin) January 12, 2026
The Artemis Accord was initiated by eight nations, including the USA, the UK, the UAE, Luxembourg, Japan, Italy, Canada, and Australia in October 2020. The then acting associate administrator at NASA, Mike Gold, stated, “Fundamentally, the Artemis Accords will help to avoid conflict in space and on Earth by strengthening mutual understanding and reducing misperceptions. Transparency, public registration, and deconflicting operations—these are the principles that will preserve peace.”
Entitled “Principles for cooperation in the civil exploration and use of the Moon, Mars, Comets, and Asteroids for peaceful purposes,” the Artemis Accord states, “The Accords represent a political commitment to the principles described herein, many of which provide for operational implementation of important obligations contained in the Outer Space Treaty and other instruments.” It further adds,
“The principles set out in these Accords are intended to apply to civil space activities conducted by the civil space agencies of each Signatory. These activities may take place on the Moon, Mars, comets, and asteroids, including their surfaces and subsurfaces, as well as in orbit of the Moon or Mars, in the Lagrangian points for the Earth-Moon system, and in transit between these celestial bodies and locations.”
One of the responsibilities for the signatories is to provide emergency assistance in outer space under the “Rescue and Return Agreement.” Among a number of clauses, the signatory nations are open to sharing of scientific data and preserving outer space heritage.
In the second clause under Section 11 entitled ‘Deconfliction of Space Activities,” the Artemis Accord states the following:
The Signatories affirm that the exploration and use of outer space should be conducted with due consideration to the United Nations Guidelines for the Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities adopted by the COPUOS in 2019, with appropriate changes to reflect the nature of operations beyond low-Earth orbit.
However, as the Trump administration has exited 66 international entities, including several UN bodies, does this clause still stand?
See Also: Artemis II: NASA Issues Boarding Pass For Citizens To Send Their Names To Moon; Here’s How To Book
Cover: NASA
