Colombia signs US-funded space exploration agreements

Photo by Colombian Vice President Marta Lucia Ramirez in October 2021 – POOL / AFP

Colombia became the third Latin American country to sign the agreement after Brazil and Mexico on Tuesday, joining the US-backed Artemis agreement to establish legal bases for the exploration of the moon, Mars and other stars.

“Signing these agreements is very important for our government because it is an opportunity to join the new research and exploration effort for our natural satellite, the moon,” Colombian Vice President Marta Lucia Ramirez told us. NASA Offices in the United States. Capital.

The deals stemmed from NASA’s Artemis project launched in 2017 by the US space agency with the goal of sending humans back to the moon in 2024, with the goal of postponing it until at least 2025. With many national and foreign partners, the first lady and the first black will walk to the South Pole of the moon.

The Artemis Agreements, sealed by eight countries with the inspiration of the United States in October 2020, set a milestone in strengthening and implementing the United Nations 1967 Space Agreement, the basis of international space law.

Colombia is the 19th country and the third Latin American country to join, after Brazil in June 2021 and Mexico in December of the same year.

It is signed by Australia, Bahrain, Canada, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, United States, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, United Kingdom, Romania, Singapore and Ukraine.