Bangladesh joins NASA’s Artemis Accords as 54th signatory

Bangladesh has officially become the 54th country to join the Artemis Accords, a US led initiative spearheaded by NASA aimed at promoting peaceful, transparent, and cooperative exploration of space.

The signing took place today on the sidelines of the Bangladesh Investment Summit 2025, held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Dhaka.

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​The Artemis Accords, established by NASA in 2020, are a set of non-binding agreements aimed at promoting peaceful, cooperative, and transparent exploration of outer space, particularly focusing on activities related to the Moon, Mars, and other celestial bodies.

The signing program began with a virtual message from Janet Petro, acting administrator of NASA, where she mentioned that the visit of Joseph M Acaba, chief astronaut at NASA last December began the process and the introduction of the Artemis accords in Bangladesh.

"I have no doubt we will continue to see extraordinary scientists, engineers and even future astronauts emerge from Bangladesh," Janet said.

Mentioning that the purpose of the accords is to provide guidelines and best practices, Md Ashraf Uddin, secretary of the Ministry of Defence said, "To promote space science and technology, Bangladesh established the Space Research and Remote Sensing Organization (SPARRSO) in 1980. Bangladesh follows the international rules and norms on the peaceful use of space."

After the signing, Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun, Executive Chairman at BIDA and BEZA said, "It would take us 15 to 20 years to properly understand the effects of this accord. This is step one of possibly one thousand."