Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Earth’s Moon as seen from the International Space Station.
Image credit: NASA

NASA’s Office of Inspector General has issued a report — NASA’s Partnerships with International Space Agencies for the Artemis Campaign – making several observations and recommendations.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) report notes the interest in NASA’s back-to-the-Moon Artemis campaign by international space community. That is evidenced by NASA’s 54 Artemis-related international instruments and the 23 signatories to the Artemis Accords.

Image credit: NASA

“However, the Agency lacks an overarching strategy to coordinate Artemis contributions from international space agencies and entities. Except for the Gateway Program, the Artemis campaign does not have comprehensive forums – boards, panels, and working groups — for its international partners to routinely discuss topics such as flight and mission planning, safety, and research integration.”

Effectiveness and affordability

That said, the NASA OIG has recommended increasing the effectiveness and affordability of Artemis integration efforts with international partners, by these steps:

• NASA senior leadership establish a coordination strategy with NASA’s international partners that includes recurring forums specifically for Artemis Accords signatories interested in participating in the Artemis campaign;
• establish NASA-led Artemis campaign boards and working groups for partners with agreed-upon commitments and provide opportunities for liaison representation from international partner agencies;
• issue a detailed strategy and architecture for missions beyond Artemis IV that considers potential international partner roles and responsibilities;
• perform a detailed gap analysis and cost estimate for Artemis missions beyond Artemis IV that will help inform a cost-sharing strategy with international partners;
• establish a full-time export control team dedicated to Artemis programs in support of space flight developments;
• review export control requirements and consider additional roles for partner astronauts to increase their utilization in NASA space flight operations;
• establish a fulltime export control team dedicated to the Artemis programs in support of space flight operations;
• coordinate with other federal agencies to develop a unique Export Administration Regulations (EAR) classification for the Gateway program;
• execute Artemis agreements with key international space agency partners to ensure partner roles and responsibilities are clearly understood and allow for efficient and timely partnerships in support of Artemis; and
• develop an automated routing method for processing international agreements within NASA to increase timeliness.

To read the full report — NASA’s Partnerships with International Space Agencies for the Artemis Campaign – go to:

https://oig.nasa.gov/docs/IG-23-004.pdf