WASHINGTON — The State Department on Sept. 14 welcomed Djibouti’s signing of the Artemis Accords, bringing the East African nation that hosts the only permanent U.S. military base on the continent into the American-led framework governing peaceful civil space exploration.
Djibouti’s accession adds a new African signatory to the accords, which establish principles for transparency, interoperability and the peaceful use of space among participating nations, the State Department said.
The signing carries geopolitical significance beyond space policy. Djibouti hosts Camp Lemonnier, the U.S. military’s only permanent base on the African continent and a critical hub for counterterrorism and maritime security operations in the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden.
The Artemis Accords, launched in 2020, now include signatories from every inhabited continent. The framework has become a central tool in U.S. space diplomacy, establishing American-aligned norms for lunar exploration, resource utilization and space governance as competition with China’s space program intensifies.
Africa has become an increasingly contested arena for Chinese, Russian and American diplomatic and commercial influence. Djibouti’s entry into the accords deepens the U.S.-Djibouti bilateral relationship and may open space-related technology and commercial opportunities for the small but strategically located nation, the State Department said.
China operates its first overseas military base in Djibouti, located just miles from Camp Lemonnier, making the country’s alignment with U.S. space governance frameworks a notable diplomatic signal.