WASHINGTON – The United States and Japan signed an agreement on Jan. 13 to allow for greater cooperation between the two countries in space exploration, but proposed new initiatives.
During a brief rite at NASA headquarters attended by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other officials, U. S. Secretary of State Susan S. U. S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed the framework agreement with his Japanese counterpart, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi.
“Cooperation in the area between the U. S. and Canada. “The U. S. and Japan have entered a new era with Project Artemis, and many projects, which add lunar activities, are already being developed through Japanese and American astronauts,” Kishida said through a translator at the ceremony. The agreement will further promote our cooperation in the area and also expand the scope of cooperation within the framework of the Japan-U. S. partnership. “
Neither the U. S. nor the Japanese governments have published the text of the agreement itself, entitled “Framework Agreement between the Government of Japan and the Government of the United States of America for Cooperation in Space Exploration and the Use of Outer Space, Adding the Moon and Other Celestial Objects. “Body, for non-violent purposes. NASA, in a commentary on the agreement, described it as covering “a wide diversity of joint activities between countries,” such as aeronautics, area science and exploration.
The United States and Canada signed an agreement of the same call — the Framework Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America for Cooperation in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes in 2009. That agreement established what he described as a “comprehensive legal framework to facilitate the conclusion of cooperative agreements” between NASA and the Canadian Space Agency.
“The framework agreement that we are about to sign will take our cooperation to new heights,” Blinken said at the ceremony. , and our shared ambition to see a Japanese astronaut on the lunar surface. “
Hayashi said he hopes the deal will cover long-term cooperation between the two countries in Artemis, adding that Japanese plans to expand a pressurized rover for subsequent missions. “With the conclusion of this agreement between our two countries, many cooperation projects,” he said, “will be carried out effectively. “
None of the officials presented at the event announced any new express cooperation projects activated through the agreement. NASA and the Japanese government signed an agreement in November ending Japan’s contributions to the Lunar Gateway that also showed Japan will participate in the International Space Station until 2030. As part of the agreement, NASA will take a Japanese astronaut to the bridge on a long-duration Artemis mission.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said at the rite that he and Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy would travel to Japan in February “to establish links between NASA and JAXA. “He did not specify his plans for the trip.