Thomas Dermine, 37, has been Belgium’s secretary of state for science policy since October 1, 2020. On October 13, 2020, the Artemis Accords was signed by representatives of the national space agencies of Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The Artemis Accords was drafted by the U.S. Department of State and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the U.S. It is an agreement between the U.S. government and other world governments participating in the Artemis program, which is intended to reestablish a human presence on the Moon by 2025.
Hadja Lahbib, 53, has been the country’s minister of foreign affairs since July 15, 2022. On December 13, 2022, Rwanda and Nigeria became the first African countries to sign the Artemis Accords.
On November 30, 2023, Angola became the 33rd state to sign the Artemis Accords during a ceremony in Washington, USA. On January 23, 2024, Dermine and Lahbib signed the agreement on behalf of the Belgian government during the European Space Conference in Brussels, Belgium.
This made Belgium the 34th state to sign the document. Among the Asian signatories of the agreement are Bahrain, Israel, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.
Belgium is one of the 22 members of the European Space Agency, which is devoted to space exploration. Founded in 1975, the intergovernmental body is based in Paris, France.
CONAN Daily 