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Everything About the Space Cooperation with the US Summarised for You

2022-03-29 , 1:20 pm

On Monday (28 Mar), Singapore signed the Artemis Accords and became the 18^th country to join the American-led international agreement that sets out guidelines for responsible space exploration.

If you aren’t obsessed with space and travelling there, this might all sound like space jargon but we are about to break it down for you.

What are the Artemis Accords?

The Artemis Accords is an international agreement that lays out the principles for safe and responsible international cooperation on civil space exploration.

It was based on the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 and established in 2020 when eight countries—Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, United Arab Emirates, Britain and the United States—came together to sign the agreement.

Currently, the list includes Ukraine, South Korea, New Zealand, Brazil, Poland, Mexico, Israel, Romania, Bahrain, and now Singapore.

Spearheaded by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), the treaty allows the countries to participate in Nasa’s Artemis programme, which aims to return humans to the Moon by 2025.

Collaboration Agreement

But what does signing the agreement mean for each country?

Well, the countries will have to commit to adhering to peaceful exploration in a transparent manner, to create hardware systems that are operable by every member nation, and to registering their space objects.

Other commitments include affirming that they will render assistance to each other in case of emergency, make their scientific data public, preserve the heritage of outer space and plan for the safe disposal of space debris.

Drinking Water from the Moon and More

This is all part of the plan to explore space and its benefits to humans.

While Nasa is leading the Artemis programme, it has emphasised the need for international partnerships in building up a sustainable presence on the Moon, something the agency views as key ahead of an eventual human mission to Mars.

Nasa hopes to excavate ice from the Moon’s south pole to supply both drinking water and to split the molecules apart to make rocket fuel for the onward journey.

It also plans to establish an orbital space station called Gateway.

Nasa Administrator Jim Bridenstine said that Artemis will be the “most diverse international human space exploration program in history” and the Artemis Accords will be a key asset in establishing it.

Singapore’s Role

So how will Singapore play a part in space exploration?

According to Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong, who represented Singapore at the signing ceremony, Singapore hopes to work more closely with like-minded partners such as the US in the space industry.

“I hope that by joining the Artemis Accords, Singapore will be able to cooperate more closely with like-minded partners like the US, to progress the international conversation on space norms and spur the development of the global space sector,” he said.

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Mr Gan said that space-based technologies are important to many civilian and government functions, adding that Singapore sees strong economic potential in the application of space-based technologies in aviation, maritime and other sectors.

Singapore has been working to grow its “relatively nascent but fast-growing space ecosystem”, which has more than 50 companies and over 1,800 professionals, he added.

Growing SpaceTech Industry

Spacetech is an emerging industry that Singapore, a relatively new player, has been investing in.

Last month, the government announced that S$150 million will go to research and development for space capabilities in nationally important sectors such as aviation and maritime, and for other everyday applications.

Singapore’s indigenously-developed satellite, the X-SAT, was launched in 2011. To date, 16 satellites have been built in Singapore and launched into space, mostly comprising research satellites from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

But the city-state’s spacetech startup scene is getting more vibrant, supported by funding programmes, universities and government agencies. The industry now has over 50 companies, including many startups, which employ over 1,800 professionals.

In January, two local startups were involved in the successful deployment of a satellite during a space mission launched from the US by SpaceX.

The Internet of Things satellite was developed by NUS spin-off NuSpace; the engine fitted to the satellite, weighing less than 2 kg, was developed by NTU spin-off Aliena.

The Office for Space Technology & Industry, which was set up under the Economic Development Board in 2013, became a full-fledged national space office in April 2020.

Among other areas, it is exploring how space-based communications, navigation and surveillance technologies can help improve air and maritime traffic management.

Applying the Same Technology to Earth

Nasa deputy administrator Pam Melroy, who represented the US at the ceremony, said that space-based technologies represent a high-growth industry around the world.

“The commercial space industry is finding its way into almost every other industry. Those space-based technologies are becoming critical,” she said.

The technologies developed to support people in deep space, for instance, will also have applications on Earth.

She said, “As we go out into the solar system, with humans, with technologies, we find that it is very important to take those norms and behaviour, the values that we share with us.”

These include responsible behaviour, transparency, and the sharing of science information, she added.

Excludes China and Russia

However, it seems political issues extend beyond Earth’s surface as both Russia and China are excluded from the Artemis Accords.

Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, said Moscow was unlikely to participate in the Gateway space station, marking the probable end of the type of close cooperation seen for two decades on the International Space Station (ISS).

The Artemis Accords also exclude China, a rising space rival to the United States.

China has an active lunar programme with its own international collaborations.

Last month, a Chinese-German team published daily radiation measurements on the lunar surface recorded by the Chang’e 4 lander in 2019.

They concluded that the level of radiation limited astronauts to two or three months on the Moon—vital information that the US Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s had not gathered.

Partnership with Singapore

US State Department official Jennifer Littlejohn, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, said the signing would take America and Singapore’s civil space partnership to the next level

“The Artemis Accords are the keystone of US civil space diplomacy, presenting a powerful and incredible opportunity for this generation to positively define rules and principles to guide our exploration into outer space,” she said at the ceremony.

The signing ceremony took place during Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s working visit to the United States, his first under the Biden administration.

PM Lee will meet US President Joe Biden, who took office in January last year, Vice-President Kamala Harris, and other Cabinet secretaries while in Washington.