Israel joins NASA-led Artemis space mission to land humans on Moon, Mars

Israel on Wednesday signed the Artemis Accords and joined the US-led programme to land human beings on the Moon by 2025 and later on Mars, Israel Space Agency (ISA) said.

The agreement, signed by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and ISA Director-General Uri Oron, sets out principles for cooperation in space exploration and civil use of the Moon, Mars, comets and asteroids for peaceful purposes, ISA added.

Other members of the programme include Australia, Ukraine, Mexico, the UAE, Italy, Brazil, Britain, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Poland, South Korea, and Canada, Xinhua news agency reported.

The signing will allow Israel to join the programme in a variety of research and science cooperation, and strengthen commercial and economic collaboration with the space industries of the signatories, according to the ISA.

Israel is part of the uncrewed Artemis 1 mission scheduled for March when an Israeli spacesuit will be tested to protect astronauts from solar radiation.