Japan-U.S. space initiative focused on national security
U.S. Space Systems Command
A United States space domain awareness payload hosted on Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite 6 successfully launched on a Japanese H3 rocket from Tanegashima Space Center in early February 2025. It is the first Japan-U.S. space initiative focused on national security, and the first of two launches as part of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite System Hosted Payload (QZSS-HP) program.
The satellite will be operated by the U.S. Space Operations Command’s Mission Delta 2, which conducts space domain awareness operations to identify, characterize and exploit opportunities and mitigate vulnerabilities in the space domain on behalf of the U.S. Space Force and U.S. Space Command. The satellite will deliver data to the Space Surveillance Network, bolstering the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD) understanding of the geosynchronous orbit regime above the Indo-Pacific.
“This launch is a historic milestone for the U.S.-Japan alliance,” said U.S. Space Force Col. Bryon McClain, program executive officer for Space Systems Command’s Space Domain Awareness and Combat Power. “In an increasingly contested space domain, Japan’s contribution to the DOD’s deterrence strategy has been, and will continue to be, key to [U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s] awareness and operations. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with Japan on space modernization, data sharing, satellite communications and more.”
The sensors will support the fusion of space- and ground-based space domain awareness to bolster all-domain collective defense with regional Allies and Partners, according to U.S. Space Force Col. Raj Agrawal, commander of Mission Delta 2.
“This mission is just the beginning of what we can accomplish together with Allies and Partners,” said Chief Master Sgt. Jacqueline Sauvé, Space Systems Command’s senior enlisted leader, who attended the launch at the Japanese space center.
Teams from the U.S. Space Force, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory, Japan’s National Space Policy Secretariat (NSPS) and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. worked over the past two years to integrate and test the initial payload alongside its host satellite.
The U.S. payloads were designed and built by the MIT lab in Lexington, Massachusetts, and Mitsubishi Electric designed and built the host satellites in Kamakura, Japan, to augment the U.S.’s Global Positioning System capabilities in the region. The QZSS-HP uses the Multi-Mission Space Operations Center/Enterprise Command and Control–Schriever in Colorado.
“A key component to ensuring the success of the QZSS-HP mission is the ground infrastructure,” said U.S. Space Force Col. Joe Roth, director of Space Systems Command’s Innovation and Prototyping Acquisition Delta. “Ensuring the ground piece exceeds expectation paves the way for continued successful partnership opportunities with our … allies.”
The strategic partnership between the NSPS and U.S. Space Force originated through a 2020 agreement to jointly execute the QZSS-HP program. The mission’s second payload is set for launch in early fiscal year 2026.
Space Systems Command is responsible for acquiring, developing and delivering resilient capabilities to protect the nation’s strategic advantage in, from and to space. It manages a $15.6 billion space acquisition budget for the DOD and partners with joint forces, industry, government agencies, academia and allied organizations to outpace emerging threats.
Space Operations Command focuses on generating combat-ready space forces, sourcing and providing forces for service and combatant commands, and advocating for combat-ready space power.
