The Republic of Bulgaria became the 32nd nation to sign the Artemis Accords at a ceremony hosted by NASA on Thursday. Minister of Innovation and Growth Milena Stoycheva signed the Accords on behalf of the Republic of Bulgaria. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary Sonata Coulter welcomed Bulgaria to the Accords.
Bulgarian Ambassador to the United States Georgi Panayotov spoke about the partnership between the United States and Bulgaria.
Jointly led by Department of State and NASA, the Artemis Accords were established in 2020 with eight nations participating. The Artemis Accords set out a practical set of principles to guide space exploration cooperation among nations. Bulgaria joins Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Poland, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States in affirming the principles of the Accords for peaceful and sustainable civil space activity.
This year, the United States and the Republic of Bulgaria celebrate 120 years of diplomatic relations. With this signing, the Republic of Bulgaria looks to the next 120 years and demonstrates its commitment, alongside the other Artemis Accords signatories, to safe and sustainable international cooperation in outer space.