LAS VEGAS — The African nation of Senegal is the latest country to sign the Artemis Accords, a move that some believe could help the United States blunt growing Chinese influence in the region.
In a ceremony at NASA Headquarters July 24, Maram Kairé, director general of Senegal’s space agency, ASES, signed the accords in the presence of NASA and State Department officials. Senegal became the 56th country to sign the Accords overall and the fourth this year, after Finland, Bangladesh and Norway.
“Senegal’s adherence to the Artemis Accords reflects our commitment to a multilateral, responsible and transparent approach to space,” Kairé said in a statement. “This signature marks a meaningful step in our space diplomacy and in our ambition to contribute to the peaceful exploration of outer space.”
The Artemis Accords, introduced by the first Trump administration in 2020, are designed to outline best practices in space operations, building on the Outer Space Treaty and other agreements. The Accords cover topics ranging from interoperability and transparency to use of space resources and sharing of scientific data.
Senegal is one of a handful of African nations who have signed the Accords, joining Angola, Nigeria and Rwanda. That has geopolitical ramifications, some argue, as China makes inroads in Africa.
“We are in an existential struggle with China who has been conducting robust global space diplomacy, particularly in Africa,” Mike Gold, president of civil and international space at Redwire and a former NASA official who spearheaded the development of the Accords, told SpaceNews.
He noted, as one example, China building a mission control center for Egypt. “This is why bringing Senegal into the Artemis Accords family of nations is so important, since we need to blunt China’s substantive and soft-power push on the African continent and throughout the Middle East as well.”
The signing came two weeks after President Trump met with Senegal’s president, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, in Washington along with leaders of other African nations to discuss U.S.-Africa cooperation. “With Senegal as the 56th signatory, I am proud to further President Trump’s strong legacy of global cooperation in space,” Sean Duffy, secretary of transportation and acting NASA administrator, said in a statement.
Duffy was not present at the signing ceremony, a departure from many past signing events at NASA Headquarters where the NASA administrator or deputy administrator attended. Instead, Brian Hughes, NASA chief of staff, represented the agency.