Ukraine Joins the Artemis Space Program

Ukraine became the ninth country to sign agreements with NASA to cooperate under the “Artemis” program on the principles of peaceful exploration of the Moon, Mars, comets, and asteroids.

As Ukraine’s State Space Agency’s press service stated, the agreements contain a set of principles that will guide the signatory states in participating in the program.

“This is important for Ukraine because we will be able to implement our projects in partnership with the world’s leading space agencies. This is a logical step following our joining the Moon Village Association. For the first time, Ukrainian projects have become a part of the global scenario of the Moon’s development by ISECG, and, logically, we would like to continue the implementation of our potential within the ‘Artemis’ program, Volodymyr Usov, the agency head said.

Besides, one noted that Ukraine has all the scientific and technical capabilities and experience that allow it to be a NASA partner.

Earlier, Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom joined the agreement.

The “Artemis” program’s goal is to land two astronauts near the Moon’s south pole in 2024 and ensure a permanent human presence on the satellite by the decade’s end. NASA expects to implement these plans with international partners’ aid and private companies’ support.

Bohdan Marusyak