At the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) taking place in Sydney this week, representatives from the United States and Australia gathered to sign a framework agreement that strengthens cooperation in aeronautics and space exploration between the two countries.
Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy and Australian Space Agency head Enrico Palermo signed the agreement on behalf of their countries, respectively.
“Australia is an important and long-term space partner, from Apollo to Artemis, and this agreement builds on that partnership,” Duffy said. “International agreements like these serve to leverage our resources and enhance our capabilities and scientific returns for all, proving vital to NASA’s plans from low Earth orbit to the Moon, Mars and beyond.”
Australian Industry and Innovation Minister and Science Minister Tim Ayres said the signing builds on more than half a century of collaboration between the two countries.
“Strengthening Australia’s partnerships with the US and NASA creates new opportunities for Australian ideas and technologies, improving Australia’s industrial capacity, increasing productivity and building economic resilience,” Ayres said.
Known as the “Framework Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Australia on Cooperation in Aeronautics and the Exploration and Uses of Airspace and Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes”, it recognizes cooperation that is mutually beneficial to the United States and Australia and establishes the legal framework under which the countries will work together.
Potential areas of cooperation include space exploration, astronautics, earth sciences including geodesy, space medicine and life sciences, aeronautical research and technology.
NASA has collaborated with Australia on civilian space activities since 1960, when the two countries signed their first cooperative space agreement. The Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex played a key role in supporting NASA’s Apollo program, particularly during the Apollo 13 mission. Today, the complex is one of three global stations in NASA’s Deep Space Network, which supports both robotic and human spaceflight missions.
One of the original signatories of the Artemis Agreement, Australia joined the United States under President Donald Trump and six other countries in October 2020 to support a basic set of principles for the safe and responsible use of space. Global space leaders from many of the 56 signatory countries met at the IAC in Sydney this week to advance its implementation.
As part of an existing partnership with the Australian Space Agency, Australia is developing a semi-autonomous lunar rover that will carry NASA analysis tools with the aim of demonstrating the technology for scientific and exploration purposes. NASA plans to launch the rover by the end of this decade through the CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative.
NASA’s international partnerships reflect the agency’s commitment to peaceful, cooperative space exploration. Building on a legacy of collaboration from the Space Shuttle to the International Space Station and now Artemis, international partnerships support NASA’s plans for lunar exploration and future human exploration of Mars under Artemis missions.
To learn more about NASA’s international partnerships, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/oiir/
