NASA Administrator Bill Nelson met yesterday (Monday, March 27, 2023) with the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Ofir Akunis, at NASA headquarters in Washington. Nelson and Akunis discussed the cooperation between Israel and NASA on the Artemis program, in which NASA and the Israel Space Agency at the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology will identify the specific Israeli technologies that may be included in the Artemis program during the coming months.
In January of last year, Israel, following a government decision, signed the Artemis Accords, thus joining the international collaboration in NASA's efforts to take man back to the moon and, in the long term, to Mars. Israel's joining is expected to strengthen commercial collaboration in the field of space between the space industries of the signatory countries, including the United States, Canada, Japan, Britain, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, and others.
Nelson and Akunis also discussed the continuation of joint work to advance the launch of ULTRASAT, Israel's first space telescope, and the promotion of an implementation agreement for collaboration on the Beresheet 2 space mission.
Akunis and Nelson mentioned the importance of recent regional developments in the Middle East, with the Abraham Accords, which have led to the formation of strategic forums, such as I2U2 (India, Israel, United Arab Emirates, United States of America).