San Marino Becomes 76th Nation to Sign NASA's Artemis Accords

The Republic of San Marino has become the 76th country to sign the Artemis Accords, NASA announced, joining a U.S.-led framework that sets out principles for peaceful and transparent space exploration. The signing took place during a ceremony in the Italian city of Rimini, near the small European republic, with officials from NASA and the U.S. Department of State in attendance.

The Artemis Accords, first introduced in 2020, establish a set of non-binding guidelines meant to govern civil space activities, including the sharing of scientific data, the safe operation of spacecraft, and the peaceful use of space resources. Signatory nations commit to interoperability standards and transparency measures intended to reduce the risk of conflict as more countries and private companies expand their presence in orbit and beyond.

A NASA Deputy Administrator who spoke at the ceremony said San Marino's accession reflects the growing reach of the accords beyond major space powers. "San Marino joins a growing coalition of like-minded nations committed to the peaceful, transparent, and responsible exploration of space," the official said, according to NASA's announcement.

San Marino, one of the world's smallest sovereign states with no space program of its own, joins dozens of other nations that have signed onto the framework in recent years as NASA has sought broader international buy-in ahead of planned crewed missions to the Moon under its Artemis program. NASA has not indicated what practical cooperation, if any, will follow from San Marino's signature.

The accords remain outside the structure of existing United Nations space treaties, and some spacefaring nations, including Russia and China, have not signed on, citing concerns about the framework being set unilaterally by Washington. NASA has continued to present the accords as a complement to, rather than a replacement for, existing international space law.