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DipNote: Climate and Environment

Jennifer R. Littlejohn, Acting Assistant SecretaryBureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs

May 5, 2023

We are wrapping up Space Diplomacy Week here at the Department of State.  All week, we have been celebrating the work of U.S. diplomats helping nations work together in space and building international cooperation to advance our mutual space objectives.

And they do a lot!  International cooperation on space is integrated into nearly every civil space activity in which the United States takes part.  We lead in space because we work collaboratively.

At the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), for example, our representatives from both the Office of Space Affairs here in Washington, and from the U.S. Mission to International Organizations in Vienna work with other nations to advance the 2019 Guidelines for the Long-Term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities, which promote the safe and responsible use of outer space. As part of our continued commitment to these voluntary international guidelines, the United States recently submitted a comprehensive report of U.S. government and U.S. private sector efforts to implement them.

The successful launch and deployment of the James Webb Space Telescope in 2021 and the astonishing photos of the universe it produces were made possible by a decades-long collaboration between NASA, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the European Space Agency (ESA). Thanks to this international cooperation, the telescope will help thousands of astronomers worldwide learn more about every phase in the history of our universe.

The joint NASA and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) program SERVIR connects farmers in developing countries with satellite data, such as weather forecasts and analysis, to help them address critical challenges in food security, water resources, weather and climate, land use, and disasters.

NASA’s Artemis program which seeks to return astronauts to the Moon by 2024, in preparation for human missions to Mars, is also deeply collaborative. For example, three major partner space agencies – the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) – are contributing critical components for Gateway, a lunar space station that will support crewed missions to the surface of the Moon and help prepare for human exploration of Mars.

Linked to, and arising from, NASA’s Artemis program are the Artemis Accords: a bold, multilateral vision for the future of space exploration. Launched by the State Department and NASA in 2020, the Artemis Accords advance space cooperation among signatories, expanding our knowledge of the universe and benefiting the whole world.

The Artemis Accords stand at the center of our civil space diplomatic efforts.  Grounded in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, the Accords are a multilateral, non-binding declaration of principles to guide safe and transparent civil space exploration and promote peaceful cooperation in space exploration and scientific endeavors.

With the Czech Republic’s signature on Wednesday, there are now twenty-four Accords signatories, setting the standard for safe, peaceful, and transparent civil space exploration in the 21st century. Artemis Accords signatories are a diverse set of nations, and we are proud to celebrate our work together this Space Diplomacy Week.

*About the Author: Jennifer “J.R.” Littlejohn is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and serves as the Acting Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs where she most recently served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary.*

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