Serbia became the 69th nation to sign the Artemis Accords during a ceremony at NASA Headquarters on Thursday, joining a coalition committed to peaceful and transparent space exploration. NASA Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson highlighted Serbia's historical contributions to the Apollo program, particularly the work of Serbian American engineers who supported critical functions from lunar landing analysis to spacecraft docking. Among them was Milojko Vučelić, who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his role in safely returning the Apollo 13 crew.
By signing the accords, Serbia gains access to opportunities for lunar exploration with NASA, including providing payloads for the planned Moon Base and CubeSats for upcoming Artemis missions. The Artemis Accords framework, established in 2020 with seven founding nations, sets practical principles for safe and coordinated exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond -- committing signatories to peaceful exploration, transparency, scientific data sharing, and preservation of historically significant sites. NASA expects additional nations to sign in the coming months and years as it advances the sustained lunar outpost outlined in the Trump administration's National Space Policy.