This week, Saudi officials inked a bilateral cooperation deal with the United States to work together around “areas such as space science, exploration, aeronautics, space operations, education, and Earth science,” per a released statement.
Announced on July 16, the two signatories established the legal framework to “facilitate and strengthen mutually beneficial collaboration between the two countries,” while also acknowledging “the importance of the Artemis Accords, which Saudi Arabia signed in July 2022, for the transparent, safe, and responsible exploration of space.”
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“Building on my visit to Saudi Arabia earlier this year, I look forward to strengthening our cooperation for the future of exploration,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “We are living in the golden era of exploration– one that is rooted in partnership. This new agreement outlines how we’ll work together, and explore together, for the benefit of humanity,” added Nelson, who signed on behalf of the United States.
Supported by NASA, the treaty comes only two months after Nelson’s visit to the Gulf State where he met his Saudi counterparts and probed future partnerships and civil space cooperation. It also comes less than a year after two Saudi mission specialists, Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi, launched into orbit aboard a SpaceX Dragon from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
