EuropeInternationalPolicy

Finland Joins the Artemis Accords

Image: NASA
Image: NASA

Finland signed the Artemis Accords yesterday, becoming the 53rd nation to join the international agreement—and the first of Trump’s second term.

The first nations signed on to the Artemis Accords in 2020 under the first Trump administration. In the years since, more than a quarter of the world nations have signed on to the agreement, though China and Russia remain separate, building their own deep space coalition under the International Lunar Research Station.

Eyes in the sky: Finland’s addition to the group signals its commitment to the West’s strategy of beefing up its defense posture in space.

As climate change opens the polar region up to greater maritime and military activity, Finland has invested heavily in growing its space industry to keep an eye on the region.

In December, Finland’s government adopted a new space strategy resolution, calling for greater international cooperation to improve the nation’s commercial space capabilities in the areas of defense, telecommunications, and climate monitoring. 

The country, which is home to some of the world’s largest tech firms in addition to Finnish SAR giant ICEYE, also expects significant financial gains with the new strategy.

“Investments in space activities will benefit other sectors of society six to seven times the value of the initial investment. The importance of space activities for the security and defence policy is constantly growing. The space will be one of the stages for great power competition,” Finland’s minister of economic affairs Wille Rydman said in December.  

Continued collaboration: Although it’s a small nation, Finland has been an integral partner on many past and future international space missions.

  • Since 2019, Finland has been working with US SpaceCom to share SSA information.
  • The Finnish Meteorological Institute provided pressure and humidity measurement devices aboard the Mars Curiosity Rover.
  • Nokia, headquartered in Finland, has also collaborated with NASA and Intuitive Machines to deliver the first communications system to the moon.
Related Stories
EuropeInternationalStartupsVC/PE

Defense Drives EU Space Funding to Record Highs

Grab a bucket. It’s raining cash in Europe.  

EuropePolicy

ESA Watch: 2040 Vision Takes Center Stage in Paris 

ESA is thinking big in Technology 2040, a new report that provides a roadmap for the region’s future in space over the next ~15 years.

EOPolicy

EO CEOs Slam ‘Shortsighted and Perilous’ Budget Request

Leaders at six of America’s biggest remote sensing firms are urging Congress to reject cuts proposed in the Trump administration’s fiscal 2026 budget plan—a proposal that would dramatically reduce the government’s purchasing of commercial EO data.

EuropeLunarMoon

Venturi Space Unveils its All-European Rover

A tangible example of Europe’s efforts to achieve technological independence at home—and on another world.