NASA Says Artemis Accords Reach 76 Countries After Four Join

September 29, 2026 — NASA says four countries—Albania, Croatia, Côte d’Ivoire and San Marino—have recently joined the Artemis Accords, bringing the group to 76 signatories. The agency announced the milestone on September 28, and its current signatory page identifies San Marino’s September 25 signing as the step that reached 76.

The accords are a set of principles for civil exploration of the Moon and other destinations. They address transparency, sharing scientific data, assisting astronauts in distress and avoiding harmful interference between missions. NASA and seven other founding nations introduced them in 2020. The number of signatories reflects participation in those principles; it does not mean that every country has a lunar mission or a seat on a specific NASA flight.

What changed

The four recent additions extend the agreement across Europe and Africa. NASA’s September 28 announcement names Albania, Croatia, Côte d’Ivoire and San Marino. Its Artemis Accords signatory page confirms the current total and the date of San Marino’s signing.

NASA says the participating nations have moved beyond the original declaration to discuss practical coordination. Workshops this year considered planned lunar and orbital missions, how to make scientific data easier to share and how to use common standards that reduce the risk of missions interfering with each other. Those are implementation discussions, not a report that all 76 countries have launched hardware.

What comes next

Representatives are due to meet during the International Astronautical Congress in Antalya, Türkiye, beginning October 5. According to NASA, the meeting will examine support for emerging space nations and recommendations on lunar debris mitigation. Any resulting decisions would need to be reported after the meeting rather than assumed now.

The expanded group matters because more governments and companies are planning activity around the Moon. Shared expectations on where spacecraft operate, how data is released and how hazards are communicated could become more consequential as missions multiply. For context on another NASA program, see AskNovus’s Starliner crew-flight update and its guide to near-Earth asteroid tracking.

Sources

• NASA announcement, September 28, 2026
• NASA Artemis Accords signatory and principles page, updated September 25, 2026

Featured image: Moon photograph by Huỳnh Chương via Unsplash. It illustrates the subject and does not depict a signing ceremony.