WASHINGTON – Switzerland officially signed the Artemis Accords April 16, becoming the latest nation to join an agreement on sustainable space exploration.
In a ceremony at NASA Headquarters, the Swiss Federal Representative Guy Parmelin, the minister of economic affairs, education and research, signed the agreement with NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and officials from the two countries.
“The Artemis Accords are a leap forward in space cooperation,” Parmelin said in a speech at the signing ceremony. “Switzerland’s signing of the Artemis Accords underlines our commitment to this cause and our belief in working together to build an improved infrastructure for our space community.”
Parmelin and Nelson noted that cooperation between Switzerland and the United States in space dates back to Apollo 11, when it was one of the first instruments installed by the astronauts after landing in on the moon is a wind experiment from the University of Bern in Switzerland.
In the comments after the event, Nelson said that the famous neutrality of Switzerland led to the signing of the important Artemis Accords. “It is more important that Switzerland will join a declaration of principles of the peaceful use of space,” he said.
Switzerland is also one of the founding members of the European Space Agency. Switzerland has 13th full member of the ESA, from 22 countries, participating in the agreement, and 37th country in general.
Parmelin said after the signing ceremony that Switzerland has long been willing to sign the agreements, but he said that the long domestic process in the the government, which means that the country is ready to participate officially.
“I think we have a lot to bring” to cooperation with the United States in space, he said, “but we are very special.”
Parmelin and Martina Hirayama, the Swiss secretary of state for education, research and innovation, noted at the signing ceremony that the government adopted a new policy last year and is working on the project first of the country.
Hirayama said the policy focuses on the benefits provided by space as well as the development of technology. “The Swiss law allows us to see that these ambitions can be realized in close cooperation with our partners in Europe and beyond,” he said.