Senegal becomes 56th country to sign Artemis Accords for peaceful space exploration

Senegal has officially joined the Artemis Accords, becoming the 56th nation and the fourth African country to commit to a shared vision for peaceful and transparent space exploration.

The signing ceremony was held at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. on Thursday (July 24), where Maram Kairé, Director-General of the Senegalese Space Study Agency (ASES), signed the Artemis Accords alongside Senegal's Ambassador to the United States, Abdoul Wahab Haidara. NASA Chief of Staff Brian Hughes and State Department official Jonathan Pratt represented the U.S.

"Following a meeting between Senegal President Faye and President Trump, today, NASA built upon the strong relations between our two nations as the Senegalese Agency for Space Studies signed the Artemis Accords," Sean Duffy, acting NASA Administrator, said in a statement from the space agency. "With Senegal as the 56th signatory, I am proud to further President Trump's strong legacy of global cooperation in space."

The Artemis Accords, established in October 2020 by the United States and seven other founding nations, set guiding principles to govern civil space activity, emphasizing peaceful use, transparency and preservation of lunar resources. They align with the tenets of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty and are designed to support NASA's Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the moon by 2026 and prepare for future crewed missions to Mars.

Senegal is the latest African nation to sign, following Angola in 2023 and Nigeria and Rwanda in 2022. Though Senegal's space program is still in its early stages, having formed in 2023, the country launched its first nanosatellite, Gaindesat-1A, in 2024 to aid in agricultural planning and environmental monitoring.

"Senegal's adherence to the Artemis Accords reflects our commitment to a multilateral, responsible, and transparent approach to space," Kairé said in the statement. "This signature marks a meaningful step in our space diplomacy and in our ambition to contribute to the peaceful exploration of outer space."

Senegal has been steadily expanding its involvement in space science, including supporting NASA missions through ground-based observations of asteroid and planetary occultations. In 2021, NASA partnered with Kairé and local scientists to track asteroid Orus as it passed in front of a star, helping estimate its size and shape ahead of the Lucy spacecraft's planned flyby in 2028.

The growing list of Artemis Accords signatories underscores increasing global consensus on the need for responsible and collaborative exploration beyond Earth, as well as ensuring that the future of space benefits all of humanity.