New Delhi, Sept. 5 -- Instead of being a single UN-led consensus, space exploration is increasingly bipolar. The erstwhile cooperation related to the International Space Station (ISS) has evaporated. Both geopolitical blocs are now actively competing for the best lunar landing sites and resources.

The inclusion of Turkiye as the 71st signatory to the U.S.-led Artemis Accords on 31 August 2026 represents a crystallization of this bloc-based astro-politics. Ankara has chosen to embed its rapidly growing national space program within the Western technological ecosystem.

This alignment sidelines the competing Sino-Russian International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) framework. As an established spacefaring power and an early (2023) signatory...