Greetings from Washington.
To President Bolsonaro, Minister Pontes, Minister França, and everyone gathered in Brasilia today – congratulations on Brazil signing the Artemis Accords.
Brazil and the United States have a long history of cooperation in scientific discovery – including the exploration of outer space for peaceful uses.
Now we will carry that partnership into a new era of space exploration working together.
Building upon the legacy of the Apollo space program, the Artemis program – named after Apollo’s twin sister in Greek mythology – will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon.
Together with international and commercial partners, it will establish the sustainable human exploration of the solar system.
And it will allow us to develop the technology and experience necessary to mount a historic human mission to Mars.
While the Artemis program will be led by NASA, it will be a truly international effort.
And Brazil will be an important part of it.
The Artemis Accords were written to be inclusive.
It’s our intention to invest in space exploration and development in a manner that promotes our fundamental belief in democracy, the rule of law, science, transparency, human rights, and the economic value of fair trade and private enterprise.
The Artemis program will also include public-private sector partnerships, ranging from delivering cargo to the lunar-orbiting Gateway station to producing the spacecraft that will land on the Moon’s surface.
And while the Accords are a non-binding government-to-government commitment, we hope these principles will create an environment in space that’s conducive to robust commercial investment, development, and operations – to create a vibrant space economy producing the jobs and careers of the future.
So on behalf of the U.S. government, let me say how pleased we are to welcome Brazil to the Artemis Accords.
You join our existing partners from across the globe, as well as new signatories New Zealand and the Republic of Korea – all working to advance international cooperation for peaceful and responsible space exploration and activities.
We hope that other space-faring nations will follow Brazil’s example and consider making their own commitment to the Artemis Accords and its principles.
This is an exciting time – for our countries, for science, and for all of us who ever looked up at the night sky and wondered when the mysteries of space would be unlocked.
Thank you for being on this journey with us, and congratulations.