Slovakia became the 42nd signatory to the Artemis Accords today at a ceremony held at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The Artemis Accords, established in 2020 by the United States and seven other countries, set out a practical set of principles to guide civil space exploration and use.

Minister of Education, Research, Development and Youth Tomáš Drucker signed the Accords for Slovakia in the presence of State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary Sonata Coulter, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, and Slovak Ambassador to the United States Radovan Javorcik. "As friends, partners, and allies," stated a representative from the event, "the United States and Slovakia have built a lasting relationship based on shared democratic values, economic prosperity, and close people-to-people ties. We are especially proud that our partnership extends beyond Earth’s boundaries."

Slovakia joins 41 other nations – including Angola, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Israel, Italy Japan Lithuania Luxembourg Mexico Netherlands New Zealand Nigeria Peru Poland Republic of Korea Romania Rwanda Saudi Arabia Singapore Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay – in affirming the Accords’ principles for sustainable civil space activity. The Department of State and NASA lead the United States’ outreach and implementation of the Accords.

For more information about the Artemis Accords visit https://www.state.gov/artemis-accords/. For media inquiries contact OES-Press@state.gov.